Angel
by ioncewasspellbound
Summary: ::MERGE:: "If I told you my secrets, you'd never look at me the same."
1. Prologue: Kairi

**Chapter One: Prologue-slash-All about Me**

_I could change my personality and change my future._

_No one would have to know. No one. _

Meet Kairi Bellamy-Price. Currently sixteen and a half and only child in the Price family. Half-sister of Namine Price and daughter of Cid Highwind and Ariel Price.

Commonly been referred to as 'The Tattler'.

Me.

I was born in Radiant Garden, on the 14th May 1994, which was, coincidentally, also the day my Dad and Mum were married. It was a simple, easy birth, and my mother never stops telling me how I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her. We lived in a warm cottage on the suburbs, with a perfect cliffside view of the ocean. Whenever I close my eyes, I remember the smell of the lavender bushels in our garden, the feel of the ripe peaches in my palm as I picked them off the peach tree, the sight of butterflies fluttering from flower to flower in the spring air.

My life was perfect. I woke up every morning to the smell of warm bread and fresh fruit, then spent my day playing in the garden and inviting my friends over and playing in the park.

My life stayed the same as I grew older. I was a 'bright child', as my Primary school principal put it. I excelled in almost all school subjects and extracurricular sports, had lots of friends, and was liked by practically everyone.

Then came my fifteenth birthday. One of my friends decided to throw a party for me, at her house. My mum and dad had gone out for their anniversary dinner, so I decided to go. I figured the party wouldn't last that long, that I'd be in and out before I knew it.

But I was wrong. The friend that had thrown the party, Michelle, or something, had invited practically the whole school, even the upperclassmen, many of which I didn't even know. I mean, I was only in freshmen year. Her house was filled with raving teenagers, the loud music blaring and making the floor thud.

It was fine for some time. I danced and laughed and giggled with my friends, most of which I could barely see under the dim light. Sometime later, though, we got separated, as the partying teenagers pushed us apart. I was suddenly pushed hard to the side and nearly lost my footing, but someone caught me just in time.

I looked up, and felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of me. Standing there, under the dim lamplight, holding onto me, was the handsomest guy I'd ever met. He looked around eighteen, and all I could make out was his striking maroon eyes.

"So you're the birthday girl?"

His voice was a sexy baritone. I nodded dumbly, amazed that an upperclassman was talking to me.

"Nice…" His lips tilted in a smile. "I'm Vincent."

"Kairi," I replied, staring up at him. He was at least two heads taller than me.

"You okay?" He asked, looking genuinely worried for me. "That was quite a slip."

"I…I'm fine…" But my head was spinning, and when he let go of me, I nearly fell over backwards.

He laughed, music to my naïve ears. Then he leaned down and whispered in my ear. His black hair tickled my cheek. "Come with me."

Like an idiot, I followed him.

How naïve I had been.

He pulled me through the crowd, and I was too overwhelmed with the fact that I was holding the hand of a very, very handsome senior to actually think about what was happening.

Before I knew it, we were in a dark room. I couldn't make out where we were, probably someone's room. Vincent was still holding my wrist.

Then I heard a clicking sound, and became suspicious.

"V…Vincent?" I stammered, looking around in the blackness. "Where—?"

His cold lips crashed against mine, and, at first, it didn't feel so bad. His lips were soft and he tasted of chocolate. _A senior is kissing me! Wait until Michelle hears this!_

Then he started kissing me harder, his hands slipping under my shirt. I tried to pull away, but he wasn't letting me. It suddenly didn't feel so nice anymore.

I gasped in horror when he pushed me onto what felt like a bed, the blood in my ears pumping. I tried to scream, but he only took this opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth. I desperately started kicking my legs, terrified. I managed to kick him in his weak spot and deliriously leapt off the bed, running to the door. To my horror, it was locked, and, before I could do anything, I felt cold hands clamp around my mouth and push me too the wall.

"Don't think I'm letting you get away _that _easy…"

He didn't sound so nice anymore.

He pushed me to the ground, and my vision blurred as my head collided with the ground. All I could hear was his ragged panting as he ripped at my dress. I was too terrified to scream anymore. It was horrible, feeling his cold hands and lips exploring my body, touching me, squeezing me in forbidden areas; I was hurting, hurting, hurting…

Then, suddenly, he stopped.

And got up.

And left.

Leaving me lying there, hating him, hating my body, hating myself.

…

I don't know how long I lay there, staring at the ceiling. I couldn't sleep—I hurt too much. But, at the same time, I was so tired that I nearly passed out.

I wanted so bad to rewind. I wished I had never stepped out of the house. I would have been sitting down in front of the TV in my fluffy pajamas, watching the _Glee_ marathon and stuffing myself with pepperoni pizza, fresh from Dominos. I could have been warm in my own bed, listening to Ke$ha music in my iPod.

But instead, I was lying down in a strange room, in a strange house, in a strange body. I didn't feel like myself anymore. I clamped my eyes shut, trying, trying to convince myself that it was all a dream, that I'd wake up any minute later in my room in my cozy pajamas.

But it wasn't a dream, no matter how hard I wished it too be.

I was raped on my fifteenth birthday.

…..

My hands were shaking so bad that I could hardly will my fingers to press the three numbers. Nine. One. One.

Stifling sobs, I brought the phone to my ear, impatiently waiting for them to pick up at the other end.

"_Hello?"_

"H-He-Help m-me…"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Someone pulled the phone from me and slammed it down on the receiver. It was Michelle. Tears started freely running down my cheeks.

Screams. Shouts. Slaps.

And then…sirens.

…..

I haven't told anyone what happened that day. I just don't know how to.

I thought of telling Michelle, but she refused to talk to me the next day. Neither did any of my other friends. It was as if I'd suddenly caught a virus, or something.

Then I found out that the police arrested about five seniors in Michelle's party, one of them being Michelle's older brother. Michelle was grounded indefinitely, and so she told everyone how I called the police on the party.

From then on, I was known as 'the Tattler'.

It was evident that I wouldn't be able to tell anyone about Vincent Valentine raping me from then on. Especially when Vincent started going out with Michelle.

It became really, really hard to fall asleep after that. No matter how hard I scrubbed, I still felt dirty. I was suddenly afraid of going anywhere without at least two sweaters on. Whenever I closed my eyes, I would see Vincent's crimson red eyes and hear his horribly husky laughter. I would feel his hands everywhere, his lips burning into my bare skin…

Mum and Dad didn't know what was wrong with me, at first. Mum suggested getting a therapist. I really wanted to tell her, because I hated seeing her sad, but she didn't know about the party in the first place and I didn't want her too, ever.

Especially as it had been all over the news.

So I kept quiet about it. I hate to admit it, but I very nearly resorted to drugs, until my Mum noticed how low my grades were dropping and demanded to see the Principal. The Principal explained that I didn't seem to be enjoying school very much, and how the other kids had been treating me.

Which is why, as soon as we heard that my half-sister's father had died, we decided that we were moving.

And I can't say I wasn't happy about it, either.

I had a feeling that this was my opportunity to start afresh, to start anew.

_I could change my personality and change my future._

_No one would have to know. No one. _

**Um…so. Yeh. Bet you didn't see **_**that **_**one coming.**

**Yes, so this is a bit of an allusion to **_**Speak**_**, one of my favorite books and movies. But I changed it a bit. Oh, and her half-sister is Namine, of course.**

**What do you think? Should I carry on with this one, or leave the idea altogether? **

**Tell me in your reviews! **


	2. Mysterious Little Sister

**Chapter Two: Mysterious Little Sister**

As soon as I stepped down from the car, I was hit by the fresh sea breeze. Then the sound of the waved hitting the shores. Then the warm sun that shone against my face.

I was overwhelmed at the beauty of the place. Namine was so lucky to have lived in this paradise for her whole life. I bet she didn't have to wake up every morning to the sound of car horns beeping and thugs swearing at each other.

I was about ready to kick off my flip-flops and dig my bare feet into the soft sand when Mum yelled that we had to start heading to the Children's Shelter to pick up Namine.

The Children's Shelter in itself looked pretty okay, like most of the other buildings, but the people were far from okay. Half of them didn't even look like children—an anorexic-looking woman with a sniveling baby in her arm, a few sick kids playing a card game, a toddler chewing on a used alkaline battery…

And, to add to the horrible sight was the horrible stench of used…somethings.

I wrinkled my nose. "_This_ is the children's shelter?" I looked up at Mum, who looked twice as miffed as me. She's the kind of person who hates any kind of prejudice, the kind of person who cries at all the documentaries about malnourished children in Africa, and all that, so I wasn't surprised.

A man in a lab coat walked in with an onyx-haired sevenish-year-old in tow. He had long white-blond hair and sharp green eyes. "Welcome to Destiny Island's Children's Shelter. How may I help you?"

"Children's Shelter? You call _this _dump a CHILDREN'S SHELTER?" Mum was fuming now. "Half of these children would be better off living on the streets!"

"Mum…" I mumbled cautiously, wanting her to shut up. We were attracting quite a lot of attention, especially from the pregnant teenagers, who were all smoking by the window.

"Now, now, now," Lab Coat replied dismissively. "I know you might not realize, but we are doing all our clients a favor. We give them clothes, food, and a place to sleep. What more do you want us to give them?"

"Well, HYGIENE, for one!" Mum retorted. "Half of these children look like rehab rejects!"

The smoking mothers started muttering, and I tapped Mum's arm. "Um…"

"That's because this _is _a sort of rehabilitation center," Lab Coat snarled. "The Mayor didn't have enough space to build two separate buildings, and, anyway, we didn't think two would be necessary."

Lab Coat seemed to realize the baby playing with the alkaline battery and retrieved it from him. The baby started to cry, so Lab Coat handed it some chewed-looking yarn instead.

"Then you'd better start thinking again—"

Before Mum could continue, my half-sister walked into view.

She had shoulder-length flaxen hair, lost blue eyes and a bony figure. She looked a lot skinnier in real life than through webcam, especially in the large grey hoodie she donned. She was wearing a knee-length white dress underneath her hoodie, and her hood was pulled over her head, slightly shading her face. She was fiddling nervously with her sleeves, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"Namine, baby!" Mum rushed up to her and pulled her into a hug. "Namine, hunny, how are you feeling?"

"Mmfine," Namine mumbled with a false smile.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through this Nami-chan…" Mum was nearly in tears, sobbing against Namine's shoulders, being her usual overly sympathetic self. But Namine's face remained blank. She wasn't even crying, or smiling. She was showing no emotion whatsoever, just staring into space with those lost blue eyes.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I stood there, looking at my new house.

It didn't exactly look like the kind of house you'd see on _Cribs_, but it did have a pretty nice garden. There were cherry blossoms and sunflowers and all that, but it wasn't anything compared to our previous one. I suddenly felt homesick, but shook that feeling away as we entered the house.

All the furniture had been draped over by white sheets, and stuff, and the walls had been painted the same color. Dad was hauling in cardboard boxes and Mum was already measuring and thinking of possible colors to paint the walls, while I swayed the box I was holding. I had all my stuff in it, and I idly walked upstairs to look for my room.

I moved around on the balls of my feet, poking my head in and out of every room until I found the perfect one. It wasn't too small, neither was it too large. I could see all my stuff fitting in this room and looking perfect. I explored the room a bit more and realized it had an ensuite bathroom as well. I inwardly squealed as I started unpacking my stuff.

While I was doing this, I saw Namine out of the corner of my eye and beckoned her over. She stared at me for some time, then obeyed.

"Isn't this room amazing?" I gloated. "I mean, look at all this space! There's an awesome room down the hall that I saw; that could be yours, I mean, if you don't want to share—"

"Kairi."

I stopped folding my clothes and looked at her. It was the first time I'd heard her talk since we'd picked her up at the Children's Shelter. "Yeh?"

"I…I just came up here to…t-to tell you…" Namine lowered her head, playing with her sleeves. "…I'm…I'm staying with my boyfriend…"

"What?" I blinked at her incredulously. "Who?"

"My boyfriend," she repeated, pursing her lips. "He…I've been staying with him…for some months now…"

I stared at her. I'd noticed her relationship status change from 'Single' to 'In a relationship' some years ago, but I hadn't believed she was still dating him. I hadn't even bothered to check who it was. And she was only sixteen! How did she expect me to think living with her boyfriend was normal? Who knows what could happen…

"You're serious?" When she nodded, I sighed. "Are you sure? You haven't…done anything, if you know what I mean?"

She shook her head, but she didn't look like she believed what she was saying. I decided to leave it at that anyway, and gave her a warm smile. "You've told Mum, right?"

She nodded, and I gave her another smile before letting her leave, deciding to focus on my room.

_I guess it's just me, myself and I, then. _

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

At dinner, Mum threw me a brochure, and I sighed when I realized what it was.

It was about the new school I'd be going to in the fall. It's called Destiny College, but it's a high school, which isn't really logical, but whatever. Judging from the pictures, it looks pretty big and posh, but there's some pictures of the students, who look as normal as any usual high school kids.

I scrolled through the brochure, occasionally stopping on pictures that interested me, while Mum drawled on about how I'd need to get the new uniform before school started.

While I was thinking about how bad I needed a makeover if I was going to rewrite my personality.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I spent the summer working out, decorating my room and studying hard. I managed to lose five pounds, decorate my room into the perfect green color that I wanted, with green cushions and green walls and a plush emerald carpet, and memorize the periodic table, which I hadn't been able to do ever before. (Dad still hadn't gotten round to fixing a curtain, though, but I didn't really mind.) I trashed most of my old clothes and bought new ones, renewing my whole wardrobe, and looked through _Destiny People!_ magazines for the latest fads, and such.

Personally, I didn't give a damn about what was in and what was out, but if I was going to be a whole new person, I'd need to change that. Dad was miffed and Mum was wary at first, but she seemed to be happy that I was taking a step forward in my life and starting afresh in our new home, and let me be.

I wasn't able to spend much time with Namine, however, but that was okay because she was hardly ever in. She came once or twice a week to say hello, but just hung around in front of the TV, or outside, drawing. I suggested coming over to meet her boyfriend, but she was highly against the idea, so I let it drop. We chatted once or twice, but it was basically only me doing the talking. Namine doesn't talk as much as she used to.

We did all go to see Naminé's dad get cremated, minus Dad, of course.

Then the summer holidays came to an end, and school came to a start.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I woke up on the first day of autumn term feeling revitalized. I had gone to sleep early the previous night for a good reason. I leaped out of bed and into the shower, coming out smelling like soap. I toweled my hair dry before blow-drying it, then brought out my hair-curler. I'd never tried curling it before, and, I gotta admit, it looked quite good. I tossed them over my shoulder and then went to get dressed.

The uniform wasn't that bad, actually, comparing to my previous one. In Middle School we had to wear olive-green blazers over white polo shirts, along with black knee-length skirts. I don't know how I was supposed to look good in those.

Our new uniform consists of a plaid blue skirt and a white polo shirt with a plaid tie. When I put it on, it looked quite good, maybe even…cute. I don't know. I must have bought a size too small, or something, because it hugged me a bit too tightly. I didn't have time to start thinking about that, and decided to head off and do my make-up.

After applying mascara (not too much, not too little), pink chapstick and mild foundation, I decided to wear the cinnamon-scented perfume that I got for my fifteenth birthday.

I was applying it when suddenly flashbacks of what happened on said fifteenth birthday flashed through my mind, and I lost balance and splashed some all over my hair. I don't know how I managed to do that, but I did, and I was freaking out and thinking of washing it all out when I realized that time had passed since I woke up and that I was running late.

I dashed out of the room, thinking 'what the heck' and grabbing my bookbag off the desk. I met Mum downstairs; she was cleaning the house, again. Dad was in the kitchen in his work clothes, a jumpsuit and goggles, (he works in an airline company, or something), and he whistled when he saw me.

"_That_'s the school uniform?" He raised an eyebrow at how short my skirt was, and I just rolled my eyes at him. "They'll soon be nothin' left for them prostitutes to wear!"

"Cid…" Mum gave Dad a warning glance, while I took my breakfast.

I was halfway through my apple when Mum said: "Hey, doesn't your school start at 9:30?"

I looked at the clock—it was already quarter past nine! "Shit!"

"Kairi!" Mum reprimanded me. "No swearing!"

"I mean…shoot!" I corrected myself. "I really gotta go—by Mum!"

I quickly kissed my parents on the cheeks and was about to dash out the door when Dad suggested I go with him in his truck. I warily accepted, but said he should drop me off in the street behind school. What this meant was that I arrived in school at nine thirty-five. I figured if I hurried, I wouldn't be late, but then I realized I had no idea where my Homeroom was, and cursed.

What scared me was that the halls were practically empty. There weren't any hall monitors either, or anything like that, so I couldn't ask for directions. As I was perambulating the halls, I spotted some empty lockers and decided to mark one as my own for future use. I retrieved my appliance sheet and scanned through it. Apparently I was meant to go to Homeroom 47, but I had no idea where that was, as the stupid appliance sheet didn't even come with a map.

I was busy mentally slapping myself for being late on my first day, which doesn't give a very good first impression, when my locker door suddenly slammed shut, narrowly missing my face, and someone slammed into me, making me fall backwards onto the floor and send my stuff flying.

I managed to sit up when whoever had bumped into me got off me, and the back of my head hurt from when I fell. I felt a bit dizzy, and when I opened my eyes my vision was still a bit blurry.

"S-Sorry," someone stammered in a boyish voice.

Then my vision cleared, and my breathing went on rewind.

There, sitting barely a meter away from me, was a boy not much older than me.

What hit me first was his hair. It was a sort of sun-kissed russet brown color, set up in an impossible style of rebellious spikes. I wondered how they felt like, and how much hair gel he must have used. I would have normally thought his hairstyle was crazy, but on him it looked…good.

His spikes fell perfectly over his wide rimmed eyes, which were the most amazing color. They were a sort of greenish-blue, a deep sea-green mixed with a soft sky-blue. They were rimmed with a thick coat of black eyelashes, which teased his slightly-tanned cheeks when he blinked.

I felt my cheeks growing warm and looked away, and noticed that he'd spilled all his stuff all over the floor. "I-I'm s-sorry…" I hurriedly stammered, helping tidy up. I managed to retrieve most of his pencils, and we even had that cliché moment when our hands touched. He didn't seem to think much of it and withdrew his hand as if it was nothing, mumbling a sorry while I blushed at the fact that our hands had touched. I wasn't exactly sure why.

We finished packing up, and he courteously stretched out his hand to help me up, which I took gratefully. His hands were huge, and so were his feet. Somehow, what one of my friends back in the Garden used to tell me decided to pop back into my mind at that precise moment. _You know what they say about guys with big feet…_

I shook the thought away and mumbled a thanks with a smile. He withdrew his hand and scratched the back of his head, mumbling something intelligible, and I tilted my head. I took this time to examine his lips, which were sort of full and a peachy-pinkish color. They looked really soft, and I mentally started to wonder what kissing him felt like.

Bad thoughts. Evil thoughts.

He looked at me uncertainly for a bit, then abruptly blurted: "Um. Bye."

My heart deflated. I don't know what I expected him to say, but it wasn't that. "Wait!"

He stopped in his tracks, and I inwardly cheered. He turned around. "Y…Yeh?"

"U-Um…" I looked for something to say, then noticed the schedule in my hand. "…do you know where Homeroom 47 is? I'm kinda lost…"

He gave me a small smile. "Yeh. Sure."

We took a few twists and turns, not saying a word to each other on the way. Well, I did try a little small talk, but he didn't seem like he wanted to talk, and just nodded and shrugged in response, so I soon gave up. We eventually found Homeroom 47, and I was disappointed when he shook his head when I asked him if we shared a Homeroom.

"Thank you very much…" I paused, not knowing his name, and looked at him for an answer.

He looked a bit confused, and replied: "…uh…you're welcome…"

"No…I meant your name."

"Oh. Right." I fought back a smirk at his adorableness. He scratched the back of his hair as he answered. "My name's Sora. Sora Kyumuke."

"Kairi," I replied with a smile, looking up into his sea-green eyes. "Nice to meet you."

He opened his mouth and mumbled something incoherent. I wracked my brains for something to say, and settled on: "Hope we can see each other again sometime."

And then I turned around, opened the door, and walked into Homeroom 47.

* * *

**Yes, so, well, my sister said I should update this, so I did. **

**How'd you like Kairi's POV? **

**Addicted is way past here, anyway. This is for you, ! **

**Next update will probably Apologize, and Addicted shall be updated by Sunday, hopefully, if my Dad doesn't act like veritable crap on a stick, or something. **

**R&R, my people! **

**Heads up, cause in the next chappie, Kairi meets THE SEX GOD HIMSELF! This is when it gets ugly…**

**XOXOX**


	3. Starstruck

**A/N: And, no, the title was **_**not **_**a typo. Try and spot the KH pun in the chappie! **

**Chapter Three: Starstruck**

"S-Sorry I'm late, I kinda got lost…"

Clutching my schedule, I faced the man who stood in front of the classroom confidently. (Well, as confidently as I could, which wasn't much.) He had indigo eyes and his styled hair was held back in a ponytail. It was a strange light-brown color, so light it was almost pink.

"You must be the new student…Miss Bellamy-Price?"

I nodded, handed him my schedule, which he signed, and then looked around for a seat. Everyone had someone to sit next to, except a girl in the back of the class, who waved at me to come and sit next to her.

"Thanks," I said as I sat down.

"I'm Lenne." She smiled as she said this. She had long chestnut brown hair, with a few plaits beaded with yellow, pink and white beads, and a sort of heart-shaped model face.

"Kairi." I smiled back at her, just as the girl in front of us turned around. She had mid-length dark-brown hair and mismatched blue-and-green eyes. A strand of her hair was in decorated with feathers and rubber-bands and beaded aswell, and it looked like it took quite long to put together.

"I'm Yuna!" She grinned at me, and then motioned to the girl that was sitting next over, hunched over something. "And this…" She shoved her in the arm. "…is Rikku."

The girl called Rikku yelped, holding her head as she turned around to glare at Yuna. "YOU TOTALLY _RUINED_ MY ESSAY!" She retaliated by shoving Yuna back. Her long sunny-blonde hair nearly whacked me in the face when she turned around, and she aswell had some of her hair in beaded plaits.

_What is it with them and beads?_ I thought, inwardly of course.

"Oh, uh, sorry," Rikku apologized when she looked at me. Her hair was in a very complicated style, and I wondered how long these girls took to get ready in the morning. "Nice ta meetcha!" She took my schedule and started inspecting it.

"Rikku!" Yuna and Lenne hissed in unison.

I giggled. "No, it's fine."

"Hmm…so you got Sports in Period Seven, like us," Rikku announced. "English Lit with me and Ashe, Literature with Yuna…" She suddenly tossed my schedule back onto my desk, clasping her hands together. "You have _got_ to see our SexEd teach—he is a _god_!"

"Yeh, but he's still a Sexual Education teacher…" Yuna said a-matter-of-factly.

Rikku retorted: "Yeh, but Homerooms 32 and 21 have_Vexen_, so it could be worse…"

The three of them shuddered, and I couldn't help but ask who Vexen was.

"Crazy old pedophile," Lenne whispered, and I couldn't help but laugh.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

After an uneventful ten minutes of chatting and laughing, the bell rang signaling the end of first period. I managed to hold conversation without running out of things to say, which was okay.

"Leonardo Di Caprio? Seriously?" Yuna raised an eyebrow at me. "He is _so _last year."

"Okay, so he might not be all that young any more, but he's still a good actor," I retorted in defense. I mean, even if I was trying to build a new reputation and everything, I wasn't about to let these people badmouth Leonardo himself.

"No offense, Kai," Rikku spoke up, fiddling with one of her plaits. "…but after _Titanic_, Leonardo's acting skills just kinda…faded."

My mouth dropped open. "So you're saying Taylor Lautner is any better? His acting is _so_ fake. What is it with all the Twilight fetish anyway?"

"Twilight?" Lenne reappeared from behind her locker door and made a disgusted face. "Ugh…don't even mention that saga."

"Twilight isn't that bad!" Rikku whined in defense, crossing her arms. "Okay, so maybe the whole vampire idea is ridiculous, and ditto werewolves. But you can't say Jacob—I mean, Taylor Lautner—isn't hot."

Yuna and I nodded warily, but Lenne didn't. "Uh, yes I can. He looks like a cross between an Asian and a West-Indian."

"He _so_ does not!" Rikku retorted, but we were all in hysterics by this point. I don't know how, but I just had the feeling that someone was staring at me, and made the mistake of turning around.

All I could think of at that moment was _WOW_.

Leaning against his locker across the hall from ours was one of the hottest guys I've ever seen. I mean, he might have even beaten Di Caprio. He had striking silver hair, which should have been odd, but looked incredibly sexy on him. He was amazingly well-built, and his skin was mysteriously pale and looked like it would be smooth to touch.

Then my eyes traveled back to his face, and met his eyes.

Cyan, aquamarine, azure, jade, sea green…I'm not really sure what color they were, but they were stunning and made me feel funny inside. And not in a bad way, either.

He noticed me looking at him, blinked, and then winked at me.

My heart must have been beating at a gazillion miles per hour, or something around that figure at least. At first I thought I was hallucinating, until he started walking towards us.

"Oh hell," I squeaked, breaking away from his gaze. Lenne, Yuna and Rikku noticed, and smirked.

"Oh, caught his attention already?" Rikku smirked suggestively.

"Huh? I…who is he?" I whispered. My face must have been nearly the color of my hair.

"Oh, that's just—"

"Who's your friend?"

I snapped around at the sound of his voice, which was slightly husky. A sort of 'David Gallagher' husky. His eyes looked much nicer up close, and so did his arms…

I didn't trust my body temperature and looked down at my feet.

"Huh?" Lenne answered for me. "Oh, this is Kairi. She's new around here."

_Like he didn't know that already._

"Really? Nice to meetcha, Kairi." My name sounded so nice coming from his lips…

I looked back up at him then, trying to control my heartbeat, because I still didn't know his name. "And you are?"

"Call me Riku," he replied with a smile, and I swear love songs started ringing incessantly in my head. _He _so_ totally just beat Leonardo. _

He looked down at my hands and took my schedule from it, while I admired his arms, which looked a lot better up close as well. "What you got next?"

Thankfully, Lenne answered, because I had no idea what to say. "I got Gifted and Talented, while Kai's got Math." She paused to look over Riku's shoulder, and I followed her gaze to see two guys walk up to us. They both had blond mildly-spiky hair, but one was taller than the other and looked slightly older.

The taller one placed his hand on Riku's shoulder in greeting. "What's up?" His azure eyes turned to me. _Do all the guys in this school have to be hot?_ "Who's the new chick?"

"I'm Kairi." I managed to find my voice, finally. "I used to live in Radiant Garden, but we moved here this summer."

"Radiant Garden, huh?" The shorter one asked, raising an eyebrow. "You must be pretty rich to've lived in somewhere that big."

"Hmm, I dunno," I shrugged. (I'd always considered my family well-off, never rich. But we did live in the suburbs, and Dad does work in a flight industry, and I can afford an Apple MacBook _and _an iTouch, so…well. I've never really thought about it.) "Radiant Garden is cool and all, but it's pretty low on scenery." (And I wasn't lying, even. The only scenery in Radiant Garden was blocks of apartments, flower gardens, and the occasional dead fish in the cliffside ocean, which wasn't really an ocean at all, seeing as it was a hideous purply color, and occasionally green in some seasons. That was why there was a 'DO NOT ENTER—DANGER OF DEATH' sign blocking kids from playing near the cliffside.) "This place is just…wow!"

"I know right?" Lenne giggled. The taller blond now had his arm around her, and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. I concluded that he was her boyfriend, Shuuyin, as she had said earlier, judging from the way Tidus, Yuna and Rikku rolled their eyes.

"We'd better get heading to Math, if we don't wanna be late." I looked up at Riku when I heard his voice; I mean, he was really tall, at least a head and a half taller than me. "I got Math as well."

"Oh. Okay," I stammered intelligently. (NOT). "Th-thanks…"

Then I looked away, following him as we headed to Math, stealing glances every once in a while.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Back in Hollow Bastion High School for Boys (and Girls circa 2004), there wasn't a single teacher that could be considered remotely attractive.

In Destiny College, however, it's like every single teacher came out of a modeling company, or something.

First of all, our Math teacher. He's called Squall, says Yuffie, who sat next to me in Math, but prefers to be called Leon. He's tall and buff and has a scar running across his nose, which Yuffie seems to find hot. He also smells like lemons when he walks past to correct our exercises.

Then our Business and Management teacher. He's a sort of Jamaican-black, with deeply tanned skin and alarmingly amber eyes. He has silver hair (but not as silver as Riku's), set in an elaborate style that had me thinking that all the guys in this school had an endless supply of hair gel stocked up somewhere in the men's room. He looks sort of experienced, and has a tone of voice that sends chills up your spine, in a good way, of course. If his subject wasn't so damn boring I might have actually liked the class, cause he basically just talked while we watched him talk, which was kind of nice.

But, yeh, when I found out that B&M was optional, I totally wanted to change.

Anyway, we had Literature next, with a guy called Angeal. Or more like _Angel_. He looked like a body-building teacher, or something, not a _Literature _teacher. He kept crossing his arms, which made his muscles look even bigger, and most of the girls were more interested in him than in the actual play we're doing, LOVELESS. I don't care for the play that much either; I kind of have an aversion to anything poetry.

Well, anyway, after this we had Lunch, and we met up with the gang, (and Riku, of course.) I walked beside Lenne, Yuna and Rikku, since they were the only people I actually knew that well.

As we headed to the cafeteria, we were joined with a group of cheerleaders and what looked like Blitzballers. (Back in HBHS we didn't have a school Blitzball team, mainly because the water was basically a corrosive chemical dump, or something. I'd only seen Blitzballers on TV.) They all looked really pretty and perfect, and I started feeling inadequate next to them.

Especially when the one of the cheerleaders walked up to me and asked me what my name was. She was very tanned and had dark brown eyes, arched neat eyebrows and a mane of long russet hair. She looked sort of exotic, and really pretty.

"Kairi," I replied with a smile, you know, to give a good impression. "I'm new here."

The cheer captain just looked me up and down, placed her hands on her perfect hips, and then spun around and headed back over to meet her gang.

"Who's she?" I asked, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Destiny Dolphin's Cheer captain, Fang," Yuna replied. "Don't worry, she's always a bit like that to newbies."

I didn't know what to say to that, and didn't have to, because we had already reached the cafeteria.

It was a lot noisier than our old one, I gotta give it that. And a lot messier, too. There were foods of all sorts sprawled across the floor, and I had to sashay wildly in order not to step on anything suspiciously gooey.

The food was okay, though, I mean, compared to my old school's food, which was basically muck on a plate. They were serving chips and muffins and Cheetos and all that, but I just took half a plate of chips and a chicken salad. I mean, I managed to lose eleven pounds over the summer, and I didn't want to have to go down that lane anymore. I wasn't about to go up a waist size any time soon.

What I noticed was that as we walked past, everyone that was in the way just seemed to move aside and get out of the way. I even saw a few looking at us in awe, which, I must say, felt kind of nice. Okay, so I usually don't really like all those mean stuck-up snobs in movies and TV series and all that, but hey—I was re-starting my life, remember? It would be a lot easier to start from the top than from the bottom…

Anyway, apparently we own a specific table in the middle of the cafeteria, and the sitting position seems to depend on popularity, or something. The Blitzballers and Cheerleaders don't even share our table, which is odd, but the table next to us.

Us being Riku, Tidus, Shuuyin, Wakka (a Jamaican senior), Lenne, Yuna, Rikku, Fang, Yuffie, Vanille, Ashe (cheerleaders) and, finally, me. I couldn't help feeling like I didn't belong in this huge group of friends, who were also on top of the hierarchy and blessed with good looks.

"So, tell us more 'bout yourself, Kai!" Yuffie exclaimed enthusiastically, chewing on her chips.

"Uh…" I looked around nervously before clearing my throat and tucking some of my hair behind my ear. "I'm sixteen and a half, I've lived in Radiant Garden practically all my life…" I paused, deciding to add: "…but never anywhere this amazing…"

"You get used to it," Shuuyin shrugged, which earned him a shove in the arm from Lenne.

"I don't think I ever will," I replied truthfully. I don't think I'll ever get used to the fact that winter doesn't exist over here, that the sun shines brighter nearly every day, that the waves never stop hitting the shore…

"Have you been to the North Beach?" Rikku asked, sucking on a slushie.

"Not yet; I've been kind of busy this summer, you know, unpacking," I half-lied. I mean, yeh, I'd been unpacking, but for only half a month at most, and the rest I had spent jogging and working out in the gym and shopping.

"You have _got _to go there with us this weekend!" Vanille clapped her hands. Her ginger hair was perfectly curled. "The beach there is marvelous!"

"Plus, it's Shuyin's birthday!" Lenne giggled, kissing Shuyin on the cheek.

Shuyin raised an eyebrow at her. "Who said I was celebrating it on the beach?"

"I did."

"Since when do you take _my_ decisions?"

"Since you asked me to go out with you, silly."

"That wasn't in the contract."

I decided to stop looking when they started whispering and occasionally locking lips, and focused on my food. We talked about trivial things for a while, until Vanille said something that interested me.

"I hope I get a part in the play this year!" Vanille giggled.

"Meh, I don't really mind, as long as I get to dance," Rikku shrugged indifferently.

"What play?" I couldn't help but ask. I've always loved acting and singing, two of my hobbies. Along with tap-dancing, but no-one needed to know that.

Yuna explained for me. "Oh, um, sorry, forgot to tell you: Drama is compulsory for juniors and seniors, in place of Music, and so is the school play. Lenne and I are the lead singers in the school's glee club, so we don't actually need a part since we'll be participating in the Sectionals anyway."

I smiled. "A glee club?"

"_The Songstresses_," Lenne added. "That's what it's called. We're twelve people so far, which are me, Yuna, a girl from the Cheer Team and some other people."

"What do we have to do to join?" I asked, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.

"You want to join, huh?" Yuna smiled, seeming to like the idea. "Okay, um…we'll have to hear your voice first. Tryouts are on Wednesdays, actually, so we'll see then."

I smiled at the thought. A glee club! I was dropped from my last school's glee club before we'd even started a competition because of, you know, what happened. I didn't care anymore, though, cause now I was going to be in a new one with an even cooler name. I wanted to be a _Songstress_, and I wasn't about to screw up my audition.

I suddenly heard Riku's laugh, and automatically looked over at him. Tidus was holding out a strawberry-and-cream cake (that would have looked attractive before last summer) in Riku's face.

I didn't know what he was going to do until he stood up with a confident smirk, grabbed the dish of cake and started heading to another table in the cafeteria. A guy who was standing up with his tray, and I watched in horror as Riku rammed the plate of cake into the poor guy's face.

Everyone around the table and in the cafeteria burst into laughter, while I just kept my eyes glued to the guy whose face he's rammed cake into.

A guy with brown, unruly spiky hair.

I stifled a gasp.

Riku was laughing heartily at him, and I noticed that all my friends were too. I frowned and tapped Rikku on the arm. "Who's…why did Riku just throw cake into that guy's face?"

Rikku was still half-laughing. "Oh, he's just Porcupie."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Huh?"

"School reject," Lenne said offhandedly, as if it was normal. Yuna, who I'd thought was the nicest girl on the planet, was also laughing at the great injustice that had just been committed.

I felt mad. Really mad. Sora hadn't done anything! I for one know what it's like to be rejected, which was why I was just about ready to stand up and stomp right up to Riku and whack him hard across the face when there was suddenly a loud slamming sound, and the cafeteria grew quiet.

I looked back over at the scene, where Riku was, looking at Sora, who was wiping cake off his face. Riku took a step back and looked at the guys with a raised eyebrow, but they just shrugged and shook their heads. Then he looked back at Sora, who was glaring at him.

"Thanks for the cake, Riku," I heard him say. His voice wasn't that loud, but the cafeteria was silent and his voice carried. "…but I just ate."

He then wiped whatever was left on his face, grabbed his tray, and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Riku blinked, rolled his eyes, and returned to the table. Tidus, Shuyin and Wakka were laughing like crazy; they apparently thought the whole ordeal was funny.

I, however, thought the opposite.

First of all, it was highly unfair that someone as gorgeous as Sora didn't belong with us in the popular group. I had seriously been hoping I'd meet him later on in the day, or something, but no, I wouldn't be able to, because he was apparently off-limits, judging from the way everyone laughed at him.

Second of all, it was highly horrible of Riku to do something like that just for fun. Okay, so I could have predicted that someone as perfect-looking and as popular as Riku would also be a stuck-up snob, but…well. I guess I just didn't see past his eyes, or his hair, or his muscles, or his smile…

I suddenly realized that he was looking me in the eye, and that I'd been staring at him for quite some time.

He didn't look away either, which I didn't mind. They were such an angelic color…

_No, Kairi, snap out of it. He is EVIL. E-V-I-L. __**EVIL**__. _

_Yeh, incredibly sexy, but EVIL._

I didn't listen to my conscience and kept gazing into his eyes, and we might have been there forever if his friend didn't decide to throw a chip at his face. I quickly averted my gaze as he averted his, talking a long sigh and resting on my palms.

_Why does there have to be too many attractive guys in one school? This is_ so _not good for my health. _

* * *

**Yuppies! Done with chappie 3! **

**Shoutout to ElleGal! **

**XOXOX**

**Gotta go update Addicted, but stay tuned for more Angel and Apologize! **

**And don't forget to R&R! **


	4. Vocal Adrenaline

**A/N: I just wanna say a BIG THANKIE WANKIE to all the AMAZING reviewers! (Okay, so I only got ten, but you gotta cherish what ya got, rite?) I'll start review-replying once I get at least twenty, or thirty reviews! No hard feelings? ENJOY! **

**Chapter Four: Vocal Adrenaline**

I came home in a spirited mood, and I had a few reasons.

One: I had actually managed to make up a personality, and befriend the most popular group in school.

Two: My hair had actually stayed curly for a whole day, without going all poofy and drab-like.

Three:_Riku_.

Okay, so it's maybe a bit too early to admit I was in love, so I assumed it was an 'infatuation', which is basically a mature way of saying 'crush'.

"Hello, mother!" I skipped into the kitchen, performing a spin before pulling my mother into a hug.

Only she was in the middle of cutting vegetables, and was a bit miffed that I'd nearly made her cut her finger off. She went on a little rant about dangers in the kitchen, but I was too happy to care. "What's gotten into you?" Mum said, but she wasn't exactly angry about it. I noticed she was sort of smiling.

"Nothing…" I sighed blissfully. Mum obviously knew I wasn't telling the truth, and crossed her arms. "Okay, so maybe there was something that happened today that's making me so happy. Well, first of all, all the guys in that school are GORGEOUS! I mean, seriously! And the school is, like, SO big…I have no idea how to find my way half of the time, so I just follow my friends. Who, by the way, are the most popular kids in THE WHOLE ENTIRE SCHOOL!"

Mum listened while I talked, occasionally contributing accordingly, while slicing veggies and such. I told her everything, about how I was being considered for being in the school glee club—the Songstresses, which Mum says is an awesome name, but a bit feminine, I mean, aren't there any guys in the glee club?—and then I told her about Riku. She frowned a bit when I told her he was the most popular guy in school, because, she said, she thought I had some sort of aversion for popular guys.

Well, that's because she thinks I'm still the old Kairi, the girl who hardly ever talked because she was so deep down in depression-(I actually had a therapist for a few weeks, until he got lung cancer from too many cigarettes, and, well, died.)—the girl who always wore hoodies and turtle-necked sweaters because she was too afraid that someone would jump out of the shadows and continually rape her, the girl who was slipping gradually out of the society.

Only I changed myself over the summer, and crawled out from the deep dark hole, and am now back to wearing mascara and lip gloss and skirts and v-necks and hair curlers, and can now speak full sentences, and am now a C-cup (which is amazing because I was a B at the beginning of the summer).

I didn't tell Mum any of this, and instead settled on kissing her on the cheek and heading upstairs.

When I got upstairs to my room, which smelled of soap and detergent, I immediately sighed and fell back onto my back, all sighing-ish and lovestruck-like. I closed my eyes, and, for once, I didn't see blood-red eyes glaring back at me.

Instead, I saw cyan-aquamarine-jade- sea green-azure ones. Which were a lot nicer, by the way.

And then Brandy's 'Aphrodisiac' started playing, and I couldn't help but sing to it, because it's one of my best songs (minus 'My Heart Will Go On', which is undoubtedly THE best and moving song of all time).

So yeh, I started singing, even twirling around and dancing after some time. The excuse that I was changing clothes was the only reason Mum didn't storm into my room and demand for me to stop making so much noise. Because, okay, I was singing sort of loudly.

But that was only because I was OVER THE FREAKING MOON at how wonderful and perfect my first day had been.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The next morning I was actually early, and saw with Riku, who was being flocked by fangirls, in the car park. He was locking his car, looking slightly pissed off at the girls who weren't letting him head to school in peace. He said something to a girl, who squealed, and I noticed him roll his eyes before waving them away and heading over to me, smiling.

I smiled back. "Hey."

"Hey," he grunted back, running his fingers through his hair. I noticed that he had faint bags under his eyes, and he wouldn't stop yawning.

"Rough night?" I asked. He nodded, and I added: "I know what _those _are like."

"Really?" Riku raised an eyebrow. "You regularly can't sleep aswell?"

I blinked at him. "Um. No. But I, well, used to. U-Until I…got help."

He didn't seem to understand, but nodded anyway. Well, I don't blame him. I wasn't sure about what I was saying either. Especially because his eyes were glued to me, which was making me very uncomfortable and sweaty-like and everything. (Thankfully I had used my 24-hour deodorant that Lenne gave me in Sports the previous day, so I was clear.)

Riku announced that all seniors and juniors had Drama in Period Five that evening, and started telling me about how he'd nailed the main lead last year. He said that the Drama teacher is a sucker for anything Japanese, and that I shouldn't be surprised if we end up doing Naruto as our school play (to which I laughed, because the idea of Riku dressed up as a ninja made me guffaw. Even though Riku looked like the sort of person who could manage to look hot dressed in a jumpsuit.)

We were soon joined by the Cheer team and the Blitzball Team, and then by the rest of the gang. Thankfully, Yuna, Lenne and some of the cheerleaders remembered my name.

As soon as Yuna took my hand, Riku gave me a little wave and joined his friends.

"So…what were you guys talking about?" I didn't like the evil glint in Yuna's mismatched eyes when she said that.

"Nothing really," I replied, shrugging. "You know, Drama and stuff."

"You know, you and Riku would make a really cute couple…" Lenne thought out loud.

"What makes you think that?" My face felt hot. "He's tons of other admirers—"

"Yeh, but none of them are as adorable as you." Yuna and Lenne started giggling at my expression.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We started the day with SexEd.

We were standing near our desk while Riku was telling me an amusing story about his seventeenth birthday party (in which many of his friends got drunk on beer) when our teacher sashayed into the class.

Rikku was right when she said that our teacher was hot.

He was tall and lean, with feline teal eyes and wine-red hair. The top was spiky, but the rest was straight and pulled into a ponytail that reached his mid-back. He also had sharp canines, sort of like vampire teeth, and I couldn't help notice how much he resembled a cat.

"HOWDY!" He greeted with a mock-Western accent. He was holding his laptop, which he tossed onto his desk before grinning at everyone. He was wearing a suit, but it wasn't buttoned and his dress shirt was rumpled with the collar unfolded. He was also showing quite a lot of his chest, which Rikku didn't seem to mind. "Yo peoples! I'm Reno, and this year I'm gonna be teaching you a whole lot about condoms and baby-makin'!"

Some of the guys whooped, some of the girls grimaced in disgust, and Riku just rolled his eyes impassively. Reno's gaze fell on Riku, and he grinned mischievously.

"Nice to see ya, bitch," he greeted Riku, ruffling his hair. (Riku looked a bit miffed about that and instinctively started fixing it up again.) "You taking my class again?"

"Yeh right," Riku huffed. "I know everything already." (I don't know why, but I had a feeling Riku wasn't a virgin after he said that, and felt sort of disappointed.) "Why take SexEd all over again? I'm only here cause I failed English 101."

"Mm-hmm," Reno nodded slowly, as if in thought. Then his eyes sparkled—he had an idea. "Why don't you share some of that knowledge of yours and share with the class?"

Shuyin, Tidus, Wakka and some other guys laughed at the joke, while Riku looked flustered.

"Naw, just kiddin'." Our SexEd teach span around and flipped open his laptop. "Grab a seat people. Don't got all day; chop chop."

"I like this guy," Rikku giggled as Reno sat down on his desk.

"Hn, he's okay," I shrugged.

Reno excused himself while he checked his Facebook account. When he had finished, he introduced himself.

Name: Reno. Surname: None. He refuses to disclose his age, but hinted that he's young enough to be my boyfriend (!). He lives in a flat in Destiny Islands, with his cousin, he says. He says he hasn't got a girlfriend, but that he is completely aware of what sex feels like. ("Experience. _Nice_," Rikku slurred.) He says he works part-time in SOLDIER, a military academy. He also said Riku was his star student last year, and got the highest marks. (Which had me wondering, again, how 'experienced' Riku is.) Then he suggested that Riku should demonstrate how to wear a condom, just as the Principal entered the classroom on his morning rounds.

"Uh oh…" Rikku whispered.

Riku desperately tried to clear his throat, but Reno couldn't take the hint and continued coaxing him.

"Come on, bitch!" Reno encouraged enthusiastically, waving the packet in front of Riku's flustered face. "Don't be shy! You did it just fine last year—"

Principal Yoshida cleared his throat, and Reno spun around. His eyes widened, which was amusing to watch. "Ansem! I mean, Princpal Yoshida!" He corrected himself. "Wh-what…I wasn't expecting—"

"Obviously," Principal Yoshida cut him off. "I can see you are…teaching your class appropriately."

Reno chuckled nervously. "I-It's…it's my method of teaching I—"

"I'm afraid I must question your teaching methods, Mr. Reno."

We all snickered.

"Ehhh…"

"My office, four o'clock."

Principal Yoshida left, and Reno gave him the finger at his back as he stormed down the corridor. Reno didn't seem like a qualified teacher at all, but I sort of felt at ease with him.

"Sod him. Crazy old bat." Reno turned to us, and his eyes brightened. "Anyway! Where were we?"

While Reno was talking about our syllabus for the term, I sighed and had one of those flashback moments to the previous day.

* * *

It was in English Literacy, after lunch. I had been daydreaming about Riku when Sora himself had sat down in the empty seat next to me. His face had been cleaned up of any trace of cake, and he smelt of hand-wash. I flashed him an encouraging smile, but he didn't answer and sat down silently. I figured he was afraid to talk to me after what had happened in the cafeteria, and felt awful.

Not long after the period started, I received a note on paper from Rikku and Ashe. It read:

_You're so unlucky u hav 2 sit next to Porcupie_

I stared at the note, shocked. I was furious. Sora was just a guy. Okay, so judging from his trainers he wasn't exactly that rich in the fashion department, but that wasn't exactly his fault. That didn't justify ramming cake into his face and being generally mean to him. And what kind of retarded insult was 'Porcupie'? It didn't even make sense!

I didn't say all this, of course, because we were in the middle of English Literacy, and the teacher was busy talking about rhetoric. So instead I just gave them a small smile and tucked the note behind my notebook. I felt someone looking at me and turned around to meet Sora's startlingly blue eyes.

My face felt warm, and I looked away.

There were so many things I wanted to say, but I didn't know how to say them. So I didn't say anything, and the rest of the period passed without conversation.

* * *

After two hours of Literature and lunch came Drama. I have to admit, I was sort of excited.

The Drama Hall was really big. There was a mini-podium on the far right, while the left of the room was home to musical instruments. I admired the guitars, pianos, drums and flutes, and I even spotted a mixer! Props were scattered across the right of the hall, but a few students were taking care of the mess.

I was busy admiring the grand hall when the Drama teacher sat down on a seat next to the stage. Everyone went quiet. He had long silver hair and shocking icy teal-cyan eyes. His jaw was sharp and seemingly carved, and his face impassive. I figured that he must be Sephiroth, who Riku had told me of earlier that day.

"Sit down," the Drama teacher ordered, pulling a red folder out of his coat. I noticed he didn't even have a briefcase or anything like that. "I'm Sephiroth, your Drama teacher for this year. You are to call me Sephiroth-sama. If anyone dares call me anything else, he shall perish by the sword." People started murmuring at that, and Rikku muttered something about him having anger issues. "Anyone who speaks at the same time I'm speaking shall have the same fate." Everyone shushed. "Now. We are going to begin the auditions for Kingdom Hearts, our upcoming school play—"

"U-Uh, Sephiroth…s-sama?"

Sephiroth's glare turned on the guy who had interrupted him—a junior with light silver hair and white-blue eyes. He winced. He looked as small as a freshman, but he must have been in our year. Lenne told me that he was called Hope, and that he was one of the Songstresses. Vanille gushed over his 'cuteness'.

"YES, HOPE?"

"U-Uh…I thought…I thought we were doing C-Crisis Core this year?"

Sephiroth obviously didn't like Hope's question and frowned, sighing. "Yes, we were. But _his highness_ protested and said it was too dangerous. He said that if I didn't change it to something more suitable for a younger audience he would call off the play altogether. I suggested Advent Children, but he was against that too, and suggested this piece of junk." He showed us a 'Kingdom Hearts' poster. There was a dark-haired guy on the front, accompanied by Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and dark monster-things. I raised an eyebrow. "He gave me some lousy Disney-Squeenix crossover."

While I was wondering why we were doing a play based on a video-game in the first place, Riku's hand shot up.

"Yes, Riku?"

"Hey, um, does that mean that we're seriously gonna have to dress up as fluffies? Cause I am SO not into that…"

His fangirls giggled obediently, and I smiled despite myself.

"No, it doesn't." Sephiroth frowned. "I'm thinking of characters to replace the animal-themed ones." He furrowed his silver eyebrows and glared at nothing in particular before sighing. "Okay. Onto the auditions. Who's first?"

Riku took the stage without even asking, and nobody complained. I figured it was because everyone thought Riku would get the main role anyway.

Which seemed kind of evident when Riku called a blond-haired kid (who Yuna said was Zidane, a guy in the Songstresses) and Tidus to play the back-up instruments and then began to sing.

I recognized the song immediately as 'DJ Got us fallin' in Love' by Usher, as song I didn't particularly like but didn't hate either. He's a great performer, I've gotta give him that. His voice was steady and husky, and he made the crowd go wild with his dancing. At first he was just thumping his feet to the beat, but as the song progressed he started dancing and pelvis-thrusting and his dancing became more suggestive, which got Lenne, Yuna, Rikku and the cheer team cheering him on.

He turned his gaze on me, and kept it there. I felt my heart thudding dangerously and my cheeks feeling warm. I felt something tickling in my stomach, and started giggling uncontrollably.

Then the song came to an end, and his voice was drowned in the rabid clapping and cheering. Riku kept his gaze on me and grinned flawlessly, and I got the weird feeling in my stomach again. Not that it was a bad thing.

That's when someone stormed onto the stage, grabbed the microphone from Riku, and shoved him aside.

My eyes widened as I recognized who it was: Sora Kyumuke.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started to sing.

And I have to admit, he was good. _Really _good. Better than Riku, even.

As soon as he started to sing, the clapping gradually died down into nothing, and everyone stared at him, astonished.

His voice was young, yet mature; cute, yet sexy; strong, yet gentle. Tidus and the Zidane kid were just standing on the stage, unsure what to do, just watching Sora sing. They eventually came to their senses and started creating a beat (with Zidane on the drums and Tidus with an electric guitar that he found leaning against the wall), so Sora had to sing louder. I soon recognized the song as 'I'm Just a Kid' by Simple Plan, and I know this because, in our preteen years, Namine and I used to be hardcore Simple Plan fangirls, along with practically every other boy band on the planet.

But Sora sang it even better than Pierre Bouvier.

When he was singing, my heart started feeling funny, like how I feel when I go on rollercoasters with loops in them. His eyes were closed, and whenever he shook his head, his hair swayed over them flawlessly. He was frowning in exertion, and, judging from the strength and power of his voice, he looked like he seriously believed in what he sang. (Which is probably true, since, you know, the song is about a high-school reject and all, which, well, Sora kinda is.)

The song came to a close with three dramatic strums of the electric guitar (courtesy Tidus), and the audience was cloaked in astonished silence. I glanced at Sephiroth, who was observing Sora with a slight frown and scribbling something in his notebook.

Sora was breathing hard in exhaustion, his eyes still closed as his hands dropped from the microphone. He slowly looked up, and then his eyes widened in horror. He staggered backwards, gulping and blinking at the crowd, before he suddenly bolted off the stage and pushed his way through the doors.

I gazed after him worriedly, smiling slightly. He must have been nervous, I presumed.

"Well…that was weird," Yuna huffed.

"I never knew he could sing like that," Lenne thought out loud. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Me neither," Yuna agreed. "If I didn't know better, I would suggest we recruit him on the Songstresses."

I was about to ask what she meant by that when Sephiroth suddenly called for the class to be quiet. "NEXT."

I suddenly had the urge to sing, and rose my hand. He motioned for me to mount the podium, which I did.

"Very well then. Name?"

"Kairi." I paused, then added: "Bellamy-Price."

He nodded for me to continue, scribbling down in his notebook.

I was about to head for the microphone but thought better of it and headed for the piano instead. My heart thudding against my chest, I sat down and moved my fingers along the piano keys in introduction.

And then I took a deep breath and sang.

* * *

**Hope you liked the chappie! Onto Apologize, and thanks for your reviews once again.**

**Oh, and I don't feel like making you guys wait another week before knowing the next song. So, just so you know, the song Kairi's singing for the audition is 'Impossible' by Shontelle. Check it out before the next chappie!**


	5. Vocal Adrenaline Part II

**A/N: Review replies to start next chappie, like Addicted. Updates should (Keyword: SHOULD) be coming up more quickly, at least until my huge mock exam, when I'll have to take a little break. :P **

**Disclaimer: The songs 'Impossible', 'California King Bed' and 'Hero' belong to Shontelle, Rihanna and Enrique Iglesias respectively. **

**Chapter Five: Vocal Adrenaline—Part Two**

_I remember years ago_

_Someone said that I should take caution _

_When it comes to love_

_I did…_

_I did…_

The lyrics to the song flew freely along with the tune, and, for some reason, I didn't feel nervous at all. Probably because I had sang this song at the school talent show when I was thirteen, in front of thousands of people, which meant I didn't have stage fright. I don't know.

My voice was loud enough, so I didn't need the microphone. When I reached the second verse, people started clapping to the beat, so I had to sing even louder. I looked at the audience and saw Yuna, Lenne and Rikku clapping encouragingly and grinning, and Shuyin even gave me a thumbs-up. Tidus winked at me, Wakka clapped along with everyone, and Yuffie was doing quite a show with her pompoms.

That's when I saw Riku, who was just standing there, blinking at me with his cyan-aquamarine eyes.

And I very nearly forgot where I was.

Thankfully, the clapping of the crowd drowned out the final chorus, so no one noticed my little relapse. I smiled bashfully as I descended the stage, walking up to my friends.

"You were great, Kairi!" Rikku said as soon as I joined them. "You so have to join the glee club!"

I turned to Yuna, but Yuna just shrugged. "Well, I guess auditioning isn't required anymore…but Lenne and I need to discuss it first before we can actually decide…"

I didn't understand why she couldn't decide on the spot, but nodded anyway.

The auditions continued: Yuna and Lenne did an excellent cover of 'Obsessed' by Mariah Carey; Tidus, Shuyin and Wakka did a threesome for 'Kiss Kiss' by Chris Brown (turns out Tidus had quite a good voice, but Wakka and Shuyin didn't let it show that much); and many hopeless and okay auditions later, it was nearly time for the bell to ring.

We were all nearly ready to leave, but Sephiroth still kept us waiting. His cold eyes searched the room, looking for someone he had missed, and they finally landed on…

…Namine.

She had been cowering behind a set of drums at the far end of the room, scribbling in what seemed to be her journal. She visibly blanched when she saw him looking at her, if that was even possible.

"You. On stage."

Namine just stared at him.

"Hurry up if you don't want to miss recreation."

Everyone started murmuring in indignation, urging her to mount the stage, and she finally did, hands in fists. I tried to give her an encouraging smile, but either she didn't see me or just ignored me, because she did nothing in response.

"Name?"

"…N…Namine."

"Hm."

She continued staring at him nervously.

"Well?" Sephiroth deadpanned impatiently. "Get on with it."

She looked at the ground, as if debating with herself, and then headed to the piano, like me. I remembered that I was the one who had taught her how to play, and felt a surge of pride.

Just as she sat down, the doors burst open and in rushed three security men, two of them holding guys of about our age in arm. Surprised, I asked Yuna how the heck we had security in a high school, and she just responded vaguely about some guy who had tried to shoot a teacher two years ago.

"We found these punks hang lingering about in the bike park," Security Man #1 muttered through gritted teeth, holding one of the guys in a headlock. "Thought it might be smart to skip class, huh?"

"This is a free country," the guy being held by Security Man #2 muttered. All I could see from where I was standing was his sandy-blond mop of wavy hair and his lingering frown.

"You're just lucky we're not suspending you," Security Man #2 snarled in response.

"Go ahead! Suspend me! See if I care!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH," Sephiroth rumbled. The boys kept quiet as the Security men let them go and left the hall. The loud-mouthed blond massaged his arms, glaring. I noticed that his eyes were a deep hazel, and his face was set in a permanent scowl.

The quieter guy, however, had windswept blond spikes—a bit like Sora's, yet different—and black-rimmed blue eyes. He had a Band-Aid pasted across his right cheek, and his facial features were almost exactly identical to Sora's—the lips, the cheekbones…all except from his eyes. Sora's were wider and more carefree, while Roxas' were dark and troubled.

They both stank of smoke when they passed me, and Rikku made a face.

"Who're they?" I asked curiously in a whisper.

"School delinquents," Lenne deadpanned, as if it was nothing. "The Goth dude is Porcupie's twin brother, so they say."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Sephiroth spoke up before I could. "Roxas, Hayner. You two will stay after class and rearrange the instruments." He sighed and turned to Namine. "Now. You may begin."

Namine, who looked visibly shaken by the intrusion, closed her eyes and began play a tune on the piano in introduction, like me. And then she took a deep breath and started to sing.

I was amazed by how well she sang, and played the piano. Namine had always been the shy type, and hardly sang in public. But now she was singing with such feeling, such emotion, putting life into each word. Her voice was cute and childish, but she managed to hit all the high notes without a problem.

She was nearing the bridge of the song when I noticed she had started crying, tears silently making their way down her flushed cheeks and onto the piano.

"Um…okay," Yuna whispered, raising an eyebrow. "This is weird."

"She's got quite a voice, though," Rikku pointed out.

I just nodded, unsure of what to say. Namine had always been emotional, at least until her dad died. Ever since he died, she had closed up, leaving nothing but a lifeless shell of what she had once been. And now…

I tried to listen to the lyrics and read between the lines, but I came up with nothing.

"_Just when I felt like giving up on us_

_You turned around and gave me one last touch_

_That made everything feel better_

_And even then my eyes got wetter_

_So confused when I asked ask you if you love me_

_But I don't wanna seem so weak_

_Maybe I've been California dreaming…_"

The song eventually came to an end, and everyone clapped, albeit half-heartedly. Nobody new Namine, after all. (She was new, just like me, even if she had lived in Destiny Islands before. She had just lived on the Southern Island, which meant she went to the Southern Destiny College.) Namine blinked, flushed, and wiped at her tears, waiting for Sephiroth's verdict.

Sephiroth nodded, but his impassive expression stayed. "Well done. Hayner?"

Hayner, the dusty-blond, mounted the stage involuntarily and grabbed the drum and created a beat. He then proceeded to murder the American Rejects' 'Gives You Hell', and had barely finished the first verse when Sephiroth stopped him, claiming that he needed his eardrums to direct the play.

"Roxas," he muttered, gesturing to the quiet blond. Roxas lifted his gaze and sighed before taking an acoustic guitar from one of the stands and mounting the stage, strumming a soothing and calming tune. And as soon as he began to sing, I had no doubt that he and Sora were somehow related.

Roxas' voice was gentle but heartfelt, something I wouldn't have expected at first glance, and he was a very skilled guitarist. I don't think anyone knew that someone with that much black make-up and piercings (I mean, he had piercings on his _eyebrows_. Didn't that _hurt_?) was actually gentle on the inside. I saw Namine staring up at him out of the corner of my eyes and smiled. Namine had a boyfriend, but that didn't seem to stop her from checking out guys.

That's when I realized that he was looking straight at her as well.

He had just strummed the concluding note when the bell rang, and everyone flooded out of the Drama hall.

I swear I heard Yuna mutter: "I'll say it again: we SO need new recruits."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I was sitting down in the changing rooms during Sports, swinging my legs and talking to Yuna when a tall-ish girl with white-blonde hair nervously approached me. I was sure I'd seen her before.

"Aren't you doing Sports?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. She was wearing a white t-shirt, black beach shorts and comfortable-looking pink-and-green hi-tops. She reached up to pull her hair into a messy ponytail.

"Can't," I replied with a regretful smile. I showed her the excuse slip I'd gotten from my doctor that summer. "Twisted my ankle while jogging; still got another three weeks until I'm allowed to use it again."

"Eh…well, um, that's sucks." She giggled nervously, darting her eyes back and forth between Yuna and Lenne and me. "Cheer tryouts today."

"Oh." I cursed inwardly. And I really wanted to try out too…

"Um…" She licked her lips and gave me a smile. "Do you…you know, since you're excused from Sports and all…I'm…Sora's friend. Um…he's kinda not feeling too well and…he's in the infirmary." She glanced nervously at Yuna before continuing. "Do you mind, like, watching over him until he wakes up?"

I suddenly remembered where I'd seen her before. She had been sitting at Sora's table when Riku crammed cake in Sora's face. "No problem." I smiled warmly at her, and she seemed relieved.

"Thank you so much!" She grinned. "I'm Penelo, by the way."

I nodded and shook her hand. "Kairi."

She beamed brilliantly before turning around and heading into the Sports gymnasium.

"Seriously?" Lenne raised an eyebrow at me, adjusting her yellow-and-pink striped sports bra. "Why didn't you just invent some excuse?"

I didn't get what was so wrong with watching over Sora. "Well…I'm idle and I have nothing to do…so why not?"

Yuna, Rikku and Lenne shared a look before shaking their heads and sighing.

"Whatever." Rikku was wearing khaki capris and a white sports bra, and looked better in a bra than I would ever look. "Just don't hurt yourself."

Lenne and Yuna seemed to think that joke was funny, and giggled accordingly.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

As I headed to the infirmary, I suddenly felt nervous. I didn't know how Sora would feel about me being with Riku and not defending him when Riku embarrassed him publicly. I also didn't know how I would tell him how great he sang. I didn't know how I was going to apologize, either.

Taking a long sigh, I shook my head and opened the door, hoping for the best.

* * *

**Okay, so I have only ten minutes until my session shuts off, so I'm going to hurry up.**

**Namine sang 'California King Bed' by Rihanna, and Roxas sang 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias. Just so you know. xD **

**The chappies shall be getting better by the next chappie, I promise. Apologize next, but stay tuned! **

**Xxxx and R&R! **


	6. Sora

**A/N: Hullaballoo and howdy y'all! **

**Review replies! **

**Roxymccartney: Don't matter—you can check 'em up on YouTube. ^^**

**Morgead'sgirl: 'Awesome writing skills'? *proud grin* AND YES I WATCH GLEE AND I AM A HARDCORE GLEEK—BELIEVE IT! I didn't really like the SamxQuinn couple, apart from the fact that they're both tall blonds, which rocks. SamxSantana is worse though, I mean…UGH. Have you watched the newest episode with 'TiK and also ToK by Key-Dollar Sign-Ha'? Lmao…**

**Draco Oblivion: Yes, it is. So that last chappie was a bit uneventful, but hey. This one's bettuh! **

**Disclaimer: I disclaim…well, everything. 'Cept my fanfic, which, by the way, belongs to **_**moi**_**.**

**P.S: Sorry for the huge PREVIOUSLY-ness. **

* * *

**previously, in ANGEL…**

_Hey, I'm Kairi, and, by the way, I was raped on my fifteenth birthday. _

His black hair tickled my cheek. "Come with me."

Like an idiot, I followed him.

_And since I called the cops, like any normal person would…I became the school reject._

Then I found out that the police arrested about five seniors in Michelle's party, one of them being Michelle's older brother. Michelle was grounded indefinitely, and so she told everyone how I called the police on the party.

From then on, I was known as 'the Tattler'.

_Which is why I decided to create a new me to suit my new home._

I spent the summer working out, decorating my room and studying hard. Then the summer holidays came to an end, and school came to a start.

_And, man, Destiny College is, like, full to the brim with uber-hotties! _

"My name's Sora. Sora Kyumuke."

"Call me Riku."

_Yup, I met Sora and Riku on the first day. Only one problem: Riku's the king of the castle, while Sora's the dirty rascal. Sort of._

"Who's…why did Riku just throw cake into that guy's face?"

Rikku was still half-laughing. "Oh, he's just Porcupie."

"Huh?"

"School reject," Lenne said offhandedly, as if it was normal.

_But, hey, they're both pretty cute. And Sora's got a great singing voice too._

And I have to admit, he was good. _Really _good. Better than Riku, even.

_But I've known what it's like to be a reject, so I know what he's passing through. And I have to find out _why_._

* * *

**Chapter Six: Sora**

I slowly eased open the door to the infirmary, looking side to side to check if the nurse was there. I saw a tall woman with dark brown hair in a lab coat sorting out medicine on her shelf, and presumed she was the nurse.

I cleared my throat. "Um…excuse me?"

She turned around and blinked at me through her rimless glasses. "Oh? Hello. What's the problem—not feeling okay or…?"

I shook my head. "No…I'm just here to watch over Sora till he wakes up."

"You his girlfriend?" She asked curiously, motioning for me to sit down.

I shook my head again. _Yeh, I wish_. "N-no, I'm just…one of his friends asked if I could…"

"Don't you have class?" She dabbed at Sora's forehead with a cold towel she'd taken off the counter.

"Actually I twisted my ankle, so I'm excused from Sports." I looked at Sora, who was curled up in the white sheets, asleep. He looked absolutely adorable like that, like a kitten, and I noticed he had a line of drool running onto the pillow.

"There. That should do it." The nurse retrieved the towel and took it back to her desk before grabbing her handbag. "Hey, um…"

"Kairi."

"Yeh, Kairi. You don't mind watching over the infirmary for me for the rest of the day, do you?" I shook my head, and she smiled gratefully, slinging her handbag over her shoulder. "Thanks. You're an angel." She patted me on the head before walking out the door.

I sighed.

The room was silent apart from Sora's endearing soft snoring noises, and the occasional _drip-drop _of the tap. He twisted quite a lot in his sleep, and I tried not to laugh so as to wake him up.

I decided to walk around and accidentally stepped on his bookbag. Cursing, I picked it up, and two notebooks and three textbooks tumbled onto the ground with a clatter. I hurriedly gathered them all up, nervously glancing at Sora, who, amazingly, had slept right through the noise.

As I put his books back, I noticed the gaping hole in the side. _Well. Guess I've found something to keep myself busy, then. _

I slipped the red ribbon out of my ponytail and binded it with one of my black hair ruffles instead, using the ribbon as string as I started to sew with a hair pin. I had taken sowing classes in my old school, so I was pretty skilled, but it still took me nearly half an hour to sew.

I had just finished when I heard Sora's snoring cease, and I quickly placed his bookbag next to his bed where it had been before. He twisted, sneezed and let out a stifled moan before finally blinking open his eyes. He must have been momentarily blinded, because he clamped his eyes shut almost immediately after, groaning and rubbing his head.

I smiled fondly. "You snore when you sleep."

His eyes shot open, and he sent me a startled look. I was once again amazed at how astonishingly blue his eyes were. He gaped at me for a few seconds, then brought his hand to his lips to wipe at the saliva that had escaped down his chin. He blinked at me rapidly, fighting off the sleep. "K…Kairi."

"Hey." I smiled nervously at him, giving him a little wave. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here, right?" He nodded slowly, and I swallowed. "_Well_…your friend—Penelo, wasn't it?—needed to go to Sports, and since I'm excused from Sports for three weeks, I suggested to watch over you until you woke up."

He looked at me impassively. "Oh…thanks."

"Welcome!" I beamed as sunnily as possible. "By the way…you were great."

He didn't seem to understand. "Huh?"

"Drama…"

His eyes widened, and he looked away. "…oh." I noticed the tips of his ears had turned pink, and felt myself smile. He leveled his gaze, clearing his throat. "How…how long have I been out?" He tried to pull himself up on his elbows, but looked visibly dizzy doing so and fell back on his pillow.

"Hey, you need to rest," I crooned, patting his lanky arm. "You've been out for nearly three hours. The nurse says it's stress."

"What'd I miss?"

I paused to think before responding. "You slept right through eighty-three auditions and four pages of Physics notes." I paused again before adding: "None of them were half as great as you, though."

His ears turned a darker shade of pink, and so did his cheeks, though I may have been imagining it. He didn't look like he believed me, though.

"I'm not kidding. You were really great." I smiled encouragingly. "Sephiroth loved you."

Sora raised an eyebrow and let out a sardonic chuckle. "Yeh right. He's hated me since before I was born—why would he suddenly feel the opposite?"

I stared at him, suddenly feeling horrible for him. He looked away and kept his eyes on the ceiling, ignoring me. I didn't get it. I didn't get why everyone hated Sora so much. He didn't seem like such a bad person, especially from what I'd seen so far. My teeth nagged on my lower lip as I debated on what to say next.

"I…I don't get it…" I lowered my gaze, speaking in a quiet voice. "Why…why does everyone hate you so much?"

It was quiet, and I thought he wasn't going to answer until he finally spoke up across the silence:

"Because, in freshmen year, I slipped and emptied my lunch all over Riku's hair."

I stared at him, searching his face to see if he was serious. He was closing his eyes, his russet eyebrows furrowed together, his lips in a creased pout, as if he was afraid I'd hit him or something.

It was so incredibly funny and unbelievable that I burst out laughing, and I couldn't stop. Sora was the 'school reject' because he _accidentally emptied his lunch on Riku_. What kind of crime was that? It's not like he called the cops on a high-school party and got the host's brother and his friends arrested or anything! He was simply considered as an extraterrestrial because he _accidentally emptied his lunch on Riku_. I laughed even harder.

"S-Seriously?" I managed to ask between laughs. He nodded cautiously, and the look on his face made me laugh even more. He looked at me weirdly. "I can't believe…they made it sound like you'd killed someone, or had a contagious disease or something…"

I continued giggling, but quieted down as soon as I saw Sora's expression. He was frowning, and he was looking down at the sheets, as if in thought. I cursed inwardly, afraid I said something that got to him.

He looked up at me, and I noticed he looked…hurt.

I gasped as he threw his legs over the side of the bed and got off, standing up. He buttoned up his shirt (which had been half-open, showing some of his chest) and pulled on his sneakers before grabbing his newly-mended bookbag.

I desperately tried to salvage the situation. "S…Sora?"

He ignored me, clenching his jaws. "My mum's probably here by now. Gotta go."

Then he turned around and walked out the door, leaving me sitting there alone.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I don't know why it got to me so much.

The look of profound sadness, distress, despondency in his blue, blue eyes…I don't know why, but it made me feel the same.

I must have sat there for almost an hour, because the next thing I knew it, the bell rang, and I had to hurry over to the locker room.

Lenne, Yuna and Rikku were busy changing back into their usual clothes, discussing about songs and singers and stuff like that. I saw Penelo and gave her a quick smile.

"So, whatcha talking about?" I asked Yuna, nervously tucking some of my unruly hair behind my hair.

"Just stuff," Yuna replied noncommittally. "You know the dude with the Jesse McCartney voice?"

I didn't get her first, but then I realized she must have been talking about Roxas. "Yeh? What about him?"

"Well, we were considering letting him on the Songstresses, or something." Yuna buttoned on her school polo, glancing at Lenne. "Whaddaya think?" I gave her a neutral shrug, and she sighed. "Thought so."

I waited for them to finish changing, and then we headed outside to say our goodbyes. I took the bus and sat down on my own, looking out the window absently.

I got that weird clenching feeling in my heart again, and tried to shrug it off as I climbed down from the bus.

Namine got off the bus not long after me, like usual. I gave her a little wave and waited for the bus to head off before speaking to her. "Hey…you rocked the audition today."

Namine looked at me owlishly but smiled sheepishly. "Uh…thanks. You too."

I beamed, happy that she'd actually replied. "You seemed really into the song," I observed. "Like…you'd lived what you were singing about."

Namine kept quiet, and looked away. "Right."

It was quiet for some time.

"So, uh…you coming in?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"Um, sorry I can't," Namine shrugged apologetically. "My boyfriend gets back in a few hours, and I gotta…" She didn't finish her sentence, gnawing leisurely on her sleeve.

I nodded as if I understood. "Oh. Okay then. You should…bring him over some time. So we could, you know, get to know each other."

She nodded unconvincingly, then licked her chapped lips and sighed. "Uh. I'd b-better be going now…"

"Yeh. 'Kay, see ya tomorrow."

"Later."

Namine smiled weakly and started running as if she was late or something. I looked after her worriedly, but eventually realized it was no use and sighed.

As soon as I was alone and up in my room, Sora's dark expression once again became etched in my mind, and it didn't disappear, even when I started counting sheep, and all more so when I started trying to imagine Riku in Speedos.

Sighing, I decided to fix up my hair, lacing another red ribbon into it. Happy with my reflection in the mirror, I headed over to the shelf to return the hair gear.

That's when I realized what I was doing.

_Red ribbon? Sora? __Ring a bell?_

Furious, I flung the scissors and the roll of ribbon at the wall.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Wednesday morning was one of those mornings that everything was going wrong.

Firstly, I woke up about ten minutes later than scheduled, which, in my case, was disastrous. I had to take a shorter shower than usual in order to have enough time to do my hair and make-up, and when I climbed out of the shower, I slipped and fell and bumped my elbow. "Shit!"

Then I headed to my underwear drawer, but all my normal underwear had disappeared, and all I could find was the pink lace number that I had vowed never to wear since my fifteenth birthday. "Shit!" (I had tried to trash it, but it somehow always found its way back to my drawer. I think Mum has something to do with this.) I realized it was absurd to go to school without a bra, especially since my uniform hugs a bit too tightly to my form, and put it on anyway.

Then, after twisting and turning for nearly five minutes trying to pull them on, I found out that my favorite opaque navy tights were torn. "SHIT!" (I was going to lose all my pocket munny to the Swear Jar if I wasn't careful.) I zipped to my wardrobe and rummaged through it for tights, but didn't find any, and settled on translucent black stockings with integrated lace. (I thought they were a bit too sexy for school, but they were better than nothing. I had nearly frozen the previous day, as it had been quite breezy, even for an idyllic sunshine paradise.) I carefully pulled them on, cautious not to rip them and create a ladder on the side. I didn't really think I could rock the Ke$ha look.

After doing my usual make-up routines and doing my hair in twin French plaits, I headed downstairs to take my breakfast. 'All of the Lights' by Kanye West—(ft. Rihanna and Kid Cudi, can't forget those two)—was playing on the radio, and I unconsciously started singing along with it.

Mum was in the kitchen, and she gave me a fond smile. "You look lovely, Kai. Breakfast?"

I shrugged and grabbed an apple, biting into it. It was a refreshing apple—not too sour, not to dry. "We did the auditions yesterday, for the school play."

"Did you now?" Mum slurped on noodles, swaying to the music on the TV. "Won't be surprised if you got the main part."

I didn't really know how to answer, so I just smiled. "There're a lot of really good singers, like Namine. Did you know she's a really talented singer, Mum?"

"Hmm…that's funny. She never used to sing; she was always kinda shy."

"Yeh…but it's kinda compulsory to be in the school play," I explained with a shrug. We chewed and slurped in comfortable silence.

"So…have you heard anything from Namine yet?" Mum asked almost inaudibly.

I looked at her, and noticed she looked sort of hopeful, desperate even. "Um…well, we talk. After school." I paused. "She doesn't talk much though."

Mum sighed. "She must still be shaken by…Eric's death. She used to speak a lot, right?"

"Yes, Mum. But that was nearly two years ago, the last time we saw her." I finished off my apple and dumped it in the bin. "She's changed quite a lot since then."

"Yes. She looks…paler." Mum pursed her lips, and I felt sorry for her.

"Don't worry, Mum. I'll look after her—don't you worry." I gave her an encouraging smile, and then I heard the horn beep. "That's my cue. Bye, Mum!"

I pecked her on the cheek before heading out and climbing up onto the bus.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

As soon I stepped off the bus, Lenne, Yuna and Rikku yanked my arm and rushed me into school. It was kinda hard to keep up with them; Yuna was fast, Lenne was faster, and Rikku was so fast she was practically hovering above the ground.

But then we arrived at the school Bulletin board, which was flocked with gushing students, and then I realized why everyone was so bubbly.

_**MAIN**_

_HIROSHIMA: Sora Kyumuke_

_MASAHIRO: Riku Harada_

_YUUKI: Kairi Bellamy-Price_

_NAGASAKI: Roxas Kyumuke_

_HINATA: Namine Price_

I suddenly felt a smile creeping up my face, and squealed in indomitable glee.

* * *

**ALL OF THE LIGHTS IN HERE, BABY! **

**Sorry, new Kanye song stuck in my head. Ugh. Hate auto-tune, but the song is freaking STUCK MAN!**

**Hope you liked the little SoKai fluff I put in there. If there is any. :P**

**Thankie wankie for reviewing! **

**I STILL haven't finished my Math homework, and I shall DIE if I don't finish it tomorrow, so I'd better get going. **

**Love yazzz! **

**XOXOX **

**R&R! **


	7. A Start?

**A/N: London in two weeks! *cue fangirl squeal* And RokuNami day is this month! Hope I can squeeze in a special chappie for them…**

**Las respuestas! **

**Morgead'sgirl: Mine too! ****And Tik Tok, specially when Brittany puked! xD Sora was in freshman year, and it'd be kinda retarded to start a food fight in the middle of the cafeteria on his first day. Oh well, not everyone is as ADD as us to actually start a food fight. (But ADD rocks. It'd be cool to hav ADD, doncha think?)**

**Draco Oblivion: Hmm…yh, you're right. They'll talk to each other soon enough, if Kai isn't too preoccupied. And you'll see when Kai'll find out about Sora…but it's not gonna be soon if I want the plot to work. **

**Roxy mccartney: OKIE CHOKES! :D**

**Off we go, people! **

**Disclaimer: I drink to that.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I found out why Sora's the school reject. FREAKING HILARIOUS. _

"Because, in freshmen year, I slipped and emptied my lunch all over Riku's hair."

I stared at him, searching his face to see if he was serious. He was closing his eyes, his russet eyebrows furrowed together, his lips in a creased pout, as if he was afraid I'd hit him or something.

_Sora didn't seem to think that way, however. _

The look of profound sadness, distress, despondency in his blue, blue eyes…I don't know why, but it made me feel the same.

_But on the bright side, I got into the school play._

I suddenly felt a smile creeping up my face, and squealed in indomitable glee.

_Which should be a good thing, right?_

* * *

**Chapter Seven: A Start…?**

"OMG, Kai, you got a main role!" Rikku squealed, enveloping me in a friendly hug. We jumped around squealing like Justin Beiber fangirls until Lenne spoke up.

"Wow. That's…weird." She was still looking at the Bulletin board. "Porcupie made the list."

Rikku immediately stopped squealing and stared at the Bulletin in amazement. "_Really_? What's up with that?"

Yuna was pursing her lips, looking slightly jealous. "Let's move. This place is getting too crowded."

We obliged, but didn't move too far off. I froze when I saw Sora being flocked by Fang, Vanille and Ashe, feeling a frown gracing my lips.

"Even if we didn't get a main, we'll probably get an okay part, at least," shrugged Lenne. Rikku nodded in affirmation, while Yuna kept quiet. Rikku started telling me about last year's school play, Eternal Sonata, in which Riku played some guy called Allegretto, but I got distracted when I saw Vanille ruffling Sora's hair and gushing over him. I didn't know why, but that irritated me.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Sephiroth started telling us about the play as he handed out the scripts. The play was called 'Kingdom Hearts', and the script was undoubtedly about a hundred pages long.

It's about three teenagers, best friends, who live in a place called Nautilus, which, unsurprisingly, is a paradisiacal extraterrestrial world in an invented galaxy.

These three teenagers, namely Hiroshima, Masahiro and Yuuki, (played by Sora, Riku and me), live peacefully on Nautilus, swimming and partying and being generally ignorant to the outside worlds.

One night, Hiroshima is strolling on the beach when he is sucked into a Black Hole in the sky, (or something like that at least, because I was too busy listening to something Yuna was saying to actually hear what he said.)

He wakes up in another 'world' and, while perambulating the world, meets Kosuke and Kurunai, (who were to be played by some blonde guy and Penelo, apparently), two homeless kids. They are being attacked by some of the same weird black creatures, called Shadows.

Suddenly, a huge silver key, a Keyblade, materializes in Hiroshima's hand. Brave Hiroshima fights off the Shadows and saves the children.

Kosuke and Kurunai both had a prophetic dream that they should find the 'Keybearer' in order to save the world. So Hiroshima sets off with his two new friends to go and look for Masahiro and Yuuki.

He travels the universe and eventually finding his friend and Yuuki and saving the universe, taking them back to the seaside world of Nautilus, where they live happily ever after.

Sephiroth decided to add a little drama to the already complicated storyline. Hiroshima and Masahiro are now supposed to be best friends _and rivals in love for the ravishing Yuuki. Yuuki is in love with both of them, but seems to be leaning towards Hiroshima_. Hiroshima travels the worlds in search of Masahiro and Yuuki, _in order to find her and confess his feelings for her_. (My cheeks were on fire by this point.)

Sephiroth also decided to add more characters to the plot—the alter-egos of Hiroshima and Yuuki. He mentioned that in the real video game (I was surprised that he made a play out of a video game, but didn't ask any questions) when someone loses their heart, they turn into a Heartless, but that he found that name to predictable and immature, hence Shadows. From that, he made up an incomprehensible theory of an empty shell being left over after someone loses their heart. If the person had a very strong heart, his empty shell takes a human form. This alter-ego is named a Nobody.

He invented an arc of the story where brave Hiroshima sacrifices his heart to free Yuuki from the evil masterminds, The Alliance. The Alliance, apparently, is a group formed of several evil Nobodies, several of which are going to be acted by upperclassmen, like Wakka and Shuyin (who cheered in happiness). Hiroshima's Nobody, Nagasaki, is in love with Yuuki's Nobody, Hinata. (I saw Namine burying her face in her script in embarrassment, while Roxas looked simply nonchalant.) The Alliance holds Hinata captive, and Nagasaki joins the Alliance to save her.

Hiroshima, on the other side, has been saved by Yuuki, who is a Princess of Heart, which means she has a pure heart and has power over the Realm of Light. Yuuki, by this point, is quite sure she is in love with Hiroshima, and is about to tell him when the evil Masahiro flies into the scene. He now has the power over Darkness, and Hiroshima has to fight him to free him from the Darkness' terrible hold on his heart. (I started getting mixed up with all the Japanese names, and was a bit confused about who was who by this point. But the sole fact that 'love' was in the script made me flush.)

Basically, Hiroshima defeats Masahiro after a gruesome fight and Masahiro dies. Hiroshima and Yuuki mourn their dead friend for a bit, but they eventually get over it and confess their feelings for one another. Hiroshima sets off to save the universe, destroying the Alliance and rejoining with his alter-ego, and Yuuki and Hiroshima live happily ever after.

Sephiroth seemed happy with his rendition, but I felt mostly confused. Yuna and Lenne started asking questions, but Sephiroth shushed them impatiently.

"All the characters listed under MAIN are to learn their full script by Monday latest," Sephiroth announced as the bell rang. "Anyone who doesn't will suffer their fate."

"But—!" I sifted through the script, and saw that the font was quite small. "How the hell does he expect us to remember…?" I sighed, giving up, and Rikku just giggled.

"Oh well." Yuna shrugged with a smile. "I'm actually glad I didn't get the main role."

I didn't like Yuna's tone, but Rikku and Lenne started laughing and so I had to join in.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I managed to catch Sora just as he was exiting the Drama Hall.

He started slightly when I tapped him on the shoulder, and didn't exactly smile when he saw who it was.

I hesitated, but tried to be as enthusiastic as I could. "Hey! So…this means you and me'll have to rehearse together, or something, huh?"

He paused momentarily, but eventually said: "Um. Okay. Yeh, sure…congratulations, uh, for, you know, getting the part." He fingered his bookbag nervously.

I beamed. "Thanks. Same to you. So…after school then?"

He nodded. "Um…sure, okay."

He didn't look all that enthusiastic, which miffed me a bit, but I tried not to notice. I was about to tell him to give him my address when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

It was Namine.

Slightly annoyed that she was interrupting our moment, I glanced at her. She was blushing and tugging on my arm and I gave Sora an apologetic smile.

He was totally fine with it. "S'okay, I'll leave you girls alone."

"Later, then?" I asked, trying not to sound too desperate. He nodded as Namine pulled me away, and I was practically fuming as Namine pulled me back into the empty Drama Hall.

"What?" I asked, irked.

Namine blinked at me, hurt, before twiddling her thumbs. "I…I can't do this. The play…the Drama, and everything."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on Namine. You sing good. Sephiroth likes you. Just go with it." I was about to pull my arm away but Namine didn't let it go.

"But…I'll have to perform…in front of thousands of people…I don't know a single thing about acting, you know that." She looked like she was about to cry, and I sighed.

"Namine, you'll be fine. All you need is practice." Namine didn't look too convinced, so I tried again. "You sang amazingly yesterday, in front of eighty-three students and a teacher—believe it! It'll be the same thing in front of all our parents—only better. If you did it yesterday you can do it anytime, trust me."

She gave me a weak smile, but I was too much in a hurry to see past her façade. "Thanks."

"You know, if you want to, you could stop by some time and we could rehearse together after school, or something?" Yeh, so she'd kind of interrupt my Drama Practice with Sora, but it was the best I could do for her.

Namine hesitated, then answered: "No…it's fine. I have stuff to do after school; too busy."

I didn't bother asking what she meant, and nodded absently. "Oh well. Um, I'm gonna be late for…" I paused. "Whatever class I have next."

Namine giggled feebly, and I couldn't help but smile as I headed off to class.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I spent Sports on the bench in the large gymnasium. It was sunlit and wide, with windows friezing the top of the walls. The floor was smooth, and the gymnasium could be used as a basketball court and a volleyball court aswell. I asked Rikku where the guys did Blitzball, and she said the Male Gymnasium and the Blitzball Arena was at the other end of the school.

I was once again left to marvel at the expansiveness of the school.

Lenne, Yuna, and the other girls who weren't on the cheer team did other sports, like skip-rope, ping pong, track race and all that, while the others stretched and practiced cheer stunts.

Penelo, the girl who was apparently Sora's friend, was all bubbly today because she had made the cheerleading team, and was proudly parading the gymnasium in her new cheer gear. She flashed me a grateful smile as she passed me, and even came to keep me company sometime in the middle of class.

"Thanks for taking care of him, and everything," Penelo beamed appreciatively.

"No problem!"

"Hope he didn't give you too much trouble."

"Nah, it was all good," I giggled. "Did you know he snores in his sleep?"

Penelo blinked at me, unsure how to react, but eventually started laughing. I laughed along with her, and our laughter gradually died down. "Hey, Penelo?" She looked up at me uncertainly. "Look…just because I'm sorta popular doesn't mean you have to act restrained around me, or anything. I was sorta like Sora was in my old school."

"Really?" Penelo looked stupefied, looking me up and down. "No way."

"Yes way," I replied, unsure why I was telling her that. "Which is why I like being nice to generally everyone. I hate high school cliques." I paused. "And I didn't get why everyone was treating Sora like he wasn't human because he threw pie at Riku's hair. That's just immature."

Penelo was quiet, but nodded slowly. "Wow. That _is_ immature, now that I think of it. And I was actually one of those people who bullied and mocked him right up until this Monday."

I wasn't sure what to answer to that, but I didn't have to, because the Sports teacher signaled for us to go change, and Yuna and Lenne came up to us. Yuna gave Penelo an impassive look, and Penelo bit on her lip before giving me a quick smile and heading over to some on the other cheerleader friends. Since she was on the Cheer Team, I figured she'd have some Cheerleader friends, and felt sorta happy for her.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I smiled as Sora entered the English Literacy class and sat down next to me. He sort of stank of football shorts, but I didn't tell him that, of course. His hair was as bouncy as ever, and his eyes were still their vibrant blue.

"What is that smell?" Aqua, our English Literacy teach, wrinkled her nose and started heading to open the window.

"Ask your fiancé," Sora muttered, looking visibly peeved. Everyone couldn't help but laugh, and neither could I at the expression on his face.

"Come _on_, it's not _that_ funny…" Aqua huffed, heading to write something on the whiteboard. "Okay, class. Books closed; we're starting this lesson with a spelling test." She turned to Sora and gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Sora. Just do what you can."

I gave Sora a sideward glance as Aqua finished handing out the sheets, wondering what she meant. I didn't get an answer, though, as Aqua began dictating.

"Ambiguous."

I blinked at her. _She can't be serious._

"Psychology."

Apparently, she was, and I nearly laughed at the simplicity of it all.

I zoomed through the spelling test, finding it unbelievably easy. I mean, she asked us to spell the simplest of words, like 'ventriloquist' and 'perambulate'. I double-checked my sheet of paper, just for the sake of it, and then idly fiddled with my pencil.

I noticed Sora was slouched in his seat, looking away absently. He had only written the first three words, and then the rest was blank. I glanced at him and realized he didn't have the intention of doing anything about it.

And me, being a sort of spelling freak, just couldn't let the horrible spellings go, and just _had _to correct him.

When Aqua wasn't looking, I snatched his paper and switched it with mine, proceeding to fill in all the missing words. I rolled my eyes at some of the astonishing mistakes he managed to make, like the way he spelt 'Psychology' like '_Sy Coló Gii_'. I didn't even get the logic in that.

He raised an eyebrow at me, and asked, in a whisper: "_Uhh…what're you doing?_"

"_Stopping you from flunking this class_," I snapped back. "_You are terrible at spelling_."

"_Thanks for reminding me_." He crossed his lanky arms and leaned on the desk as he waited for me to finish. I saw some tufts of hair through his wide polo sleeves, which didn't help keep my concentration intact. "_Well, I spelt 'ambiguous' right, at least._"

"No, you didn't," I sighed, pulling my eyes away from his armpit and rolling them. "Ambiguous doesn't have a _'y'_ in it."

"_Yes it does…_" He replied meekly.

"_The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem_." I rolled my eyes and handed back his now nearly-filled sheet of paper before retrieving mine. I made sure not to fill in everything so the teacher wouldn't get suspicious. "_Here you go."_

Sora didn't even say thank you, but I didn't exactly mind. I spent the rest of the period furiously blowing at my fringe (something I always used to do when I was bored; it helped), and when the bell rang I noticed Sora must have been watching me for quite some time and held back a blush. As he was packing up his bookbag, I noticed he still had the red ribbon laced into it. I suddenly felt embarrassed and hastily headed out the classroom.

* * *

**Wow. I'm good.**

**Already at chappie seven? Never knew I could update this fast.**

**Well, Apologize is next. ^^ **

**Just three more chappies until I continue updating Addicted, so don't worry. Let Riku and Kairi need to have their chance to shine. ^^**

**Speaking of Riku and Kairi, RiKai was almost nonexistent in this chappie. Hn.**

**Stay cool and R&R!**

**XXXXX**

**Click the link below. It's feeling lonely. **


	8. Bliss

**A/N: YES! GOT THIS UP BEFORE LONDON!**

**Review replies!**

**Don't Shoot the Puppy: Uh…I have no idea what you're talking about…no, I thought I invented the Swear jar. :P Thanks for reading though!**

**MyRealNameIsHiding: Haha LOL. :D **

**Morgead'sgirl: Says the girl who said I should hurry up with APO and ANG. xD jk. And yup, we're freaks. Freakyness ROCKS! **

**Draco Oblivion: Totally true. Kai doesn't get what's up with Namine, which is why she's acting slightly self-centered. **

**Cheshire Giraffe: Nah, it's okay. Most readers know already who Nam's BF is. That is if they've read Apologize. And I'll make sure to put in your idea, aight? Xxx**

**Superpeanutbutter: I've already given you a shoutout, but a SUPERYUMMYHUGGLE TO YOU! XXXXX I LUFFFF YOUR FANART! IT'S MY WALLPAPER NOW! :D MUAAAAHHHH! I wish I could draw as good as you… :(**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Else I'd ACTUALLY OWN A GAZILLION ROXAS PLUSHIES. Neither do I own the songs mentioned, or Facebook.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I'm playing YUUKI in the school play. Hope that counts for something. _

(I started getting mixed up with all the Japanese names, and was a bit confused about who was who by this point. But the sole fact that 'love' was in the script made me flush.)

_Sora and I are still talking, thankfully. And I ask him out on a date! Well, sorta._

"Hey! So…this means you and me'll have to rehearse together, or something, huh?"

He paused momentarily, but eventually said: "Um. Okay. Yeh, sure."

_I make a new friend._

"Hey, Penelo? Look…just because I'm sorta popular doesn't mean you have to act restrained around me, or anything. I was sorta like Sora was in my old school."

_And I help Sora out in his Spelling Test._

He had only written the first three words, and then the rest was blank. I glanced at him and realized he didn't have the intention of doing anything about it.

And me, being a sort of spelling freak, just couldn't let the horrible spellings go, and just had to correct him.

_And now I'm waiting in anticipation for this evening, where I'm going to finally get to know Sora better._

_Hopefully._

* * *

**Chapter 8: Bliss **

I still hadn't gotten used to the stares and catcalls I received as I walked to our table in the cafeteria with the most popular group of students in Destiny College.

I tried not to let that show, though.

My heartbeat accelerated drastically as Riku took a seat next to me. From that close, I could smell his scent: mint with a hint of aftershave. He gave me a smile which I returned before turning away to hide my blush.

I kept finding myself looking over Fang's shoulder at Sora, who was sitting at the same table as he had been the previous day, speaking with his friends. I noticed Penelo in the midst of them, clapping her hands and giggling.

"So…you gonna be there for glee club today?" Lenne asked as she stabbed her fork into her pasta (which she wasn't eating, by the way. What a waste.).

"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Tryouts," Yuna clarified. "We usually finish earlier than usual on Wednesdays for those who are in groups and stuff."

"Oh. Yeh, sure, I'll be there," I confirmed with a smile.

"Your joining the glee club, huh?" Riku asked, an eyebrow raised. "Figures. The Songstresses could use some help."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuna snapped, while Lenne and Rikku just laughed dismissively.

Lunch passed smoothly, apart from the fact that I couldn't seem to coordinate myself properly when Riku was around, especially when his arm occasionally brushed against mine. His smell was also distracting—in a good way of course.

It didn't really help my concentration when Riku waited back with me while I emptied my tray. The fact that Riku was standing barely a meter away from me, leaning against the wall with an attractive smile, made my hands all the more shaky, and I took half the time I usually would have to empty my tray and discard on the tray rack.

I turned around and met Riku's unique-colored eyes. I nearly blushed when I realized he'd been looking at me. "Riku?" I instinctively tucked some of my hair away behind my ear, feeling self-conscious. "Are…you okay?"

"I'm…yeh," he replied with a shaky chuckle, digging his hands into his pockets and grinning charmingly.

I smiled back when Tidus suddenly appeared, patting Riku on the back. "Yo, 'Ku!" He turned his eyes onto me with a friendly smile. "Sorry to steal Riku here from you, but we've gotta go to class."

I giggled politely. "No problem. I gotta go to class too so…"

"Later, then?" He asked. I nodded and smiled in response before heading off to find Yuna, Lenne and Rikku.

"Someone's got an admirer…" Rikku sang as soon as I stepped into line with them.

I blushed, catching a glimpse of Riku's retreating back over my shoulder. "Shut up."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

That afternoon, while some juniors finished early, Lenne, Yuna and I hung back and headed to the Music room for Glee practice.

The Drama Hall/Music Room had been specially cleared for the glee club; all the drama stuff were pushed to the end of the room and the microphones were set up.

We weren't the only ones in the hall. I only recognized Hope, Vanille and Zidane from earlier; there were also two pretty brunettes (one a bit more hyped up than the other) that had to be in our year since I vaguely remembered seeing them in the auditions, another dark-haired girl and a light-brown haired boy that seemed to be sophomores, an emo-looking girl with short silver hair, and a pink-haired girl that I'd seen hanging out with Sora.

They stopped talking when we walked into the hall, and I smiled as warmly as I could with all of them staring at me. They were all sitting on cushions on the floor, and I almost headed to a free cushion when Lenne pulled my arm and took me to the front of the room.

"Hey, everyone," Yuna began. "First off, I'd like to thank everyone for re-signing up this year, and…yeh. We've got a new face in here though, who you might all know already." She gestured to me. "This is Kairi Bellamy-Price, a new student here, and also a new addition to our team."

"She's got a great singing voice—just the boost we'll need to make it to Finals this year!" Lenne added encouragingly. She then patted me on the back and told me to take a seat next to Olette. Olette, one of the pretty brunettes, raised her hand and motioned for me to sit next to her, which I did.

Olette introduced herself with an agreeable smile, and her brunette friend spoke up. Her hair was in sort of a boat-style, which looked both freaky and nice at the same time. "Forget somebody, Ollie?"

"Um, this is Selphie, by the way," Olette sighed, shaking her head. "My hyperactive best friend. You know, apart from Pence over there." She pointed to Pence, a chubby dude with a pineapple haircut that I hadn't noticed before. "He's our camera man, you know; he does the recording and stuff."

"Oh," I said in reply, before Zidane, Vanille and Hope appeared in my line of vision.

"You already know us, right?" Zidane grinned, bringing his two index fingers two his forehead in salute.

"Enough chit-chat, people, we've gotta get started," Yuna announced with a clap of her hands. "First, Kairi'll sing a song to test out her voice."

Lenne frowned. "But we already—"

"She isn't officially in the Songstresses until I say so," Yuna snapped back. She turned to me with a smile. "Up you get."

I had no other choice but to obey, and headed to the piano on instinct. I thought of an appropriate song to sing and eventually landed on 'Better in Time' by Leona Lewis. It went smoothly, I did my best, and everyone clapped insistently when I had finished.

"'Kay," Yuna replied.

"Okay?" Lenne stared at Yuna. "That was amazing!"

"Mm," was all she replied. "Okay, now I gotta hear everyone else to see if their voice-box is still intact."

Everyone except Selphie and Irvine groaned. Selphie and Irvine were punching the air and bouncing around enthusiastically.

Everyone took their turns, singing amazingly well, while Yuna and Lenne said they didn't need to sing, since they were the head singers and everything.

"Excellent," Yuna said as she ticked off the pink haired girl's, Serah's, name on her notepad. "Glad to hear you didn't all lose your voices over the summer or anything."

The bell rang, signaling the end of school for us. As everyone got ready to leave, Lenne announced: "Be here tomorrow, all of you; tomorrow we're gonna start working on our Set List for Sectionals."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

After school, after passing by my locker, I met Sora in the courtyard.

He was looking off into the distance, hands in his pockets, with his unusual spiky hair billowing in the wind. Like a puppy, sorta.

"Heya!" I giggled, jumping into his line of vision. He blinked at me. "Glad you remembered."

"You thought I'd forget?" He asked, a smile creeping onto his face.

"I dunno; we've only just met." I shrugged, tilting my head nervously. "So…my house, then?"

"Huh? Uh…sure." He looked around. "Which bus d'you take?"

I told him I took the number 3, and we mounted it. The bus driver, Dylan, was really nice.

On our way, there were too many awkward silences, so I suggested we play 20 questions. "You know, to try to get to know each other better."

Amazingly, he complied, and didn't laugh in my face like I thought he would. I managed to learn that Sora's favorite color is orange, not black or blue like most guys, and that he's twenty-one days younger than me. He says his favorite animals are bunnies, and that he's scared of dogs, to which I laughed.

"Hmm…what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?" I asked curiously as I fumbled around in my bag for the house-keys. Mum had said that she wouldn't be home that evening, as she was doing her weekly shift at the Children's Shelter.

His smile vanished, and his cheeks changed color. "Huh?"

"You heard me," I replied with a grin.

"When I threw pie all over Riku in freshman year, of course," he mumbled. "You?"

"Uhh…I don't really have one," I replied hastily, not wanting to tell him about the time I wore a maxi sanitary pad to a swimming party and it ended up coming loose and floating on top of the water and—

Yeh. You get the picture.

I unlocked the door and walked inside, depositing my bookbag in the hall before heading into the kitchen. He followed after me, admiring the house with his eyes as we walked, and we asked each other the randomest questions over snacks, laughing along the way.

It was surprising how easy it was to talk to him. He was much easier to talk to than Yuna, Lenne and Rikku. Not to mention Riku; I didn't have to try and control my body heat like how I did with Riku.

"Have you ever been in love with anyone?" Sora suddenly asked.

I don't know why, but that question immediately made me have a horrible flashback of my fifteenth birthday. I felt Vincent's lips on my skin, and instinctively gripped the hem of my skirt.

He must have seen my change in demeanor, and immediately tried to salvage the situation. "Um…you know what? Never…never mind. We should get started on the rehearsal, huh?"

I made myself loosen up so as not to make things too awkward, and we continued speaking like before. I nearly reciprocated Sora's question, but found that that would be too awkward and dropped the subject.

I led him up to my room (no, not in the sexy way girls do in M-rated movies), and he admired my room like he was Alice in Wonderland or something. Apart from the fact that he was a guy, and not a girl, and…whatever.

"So…we'd better get to work, then?" I sat down on my bed and opened my bookbag, bringing out the KH soundtrack.

"Sephy really knocked himself out doing the soundtrack," he muttered, trailing his fingers over the paper.

I spotted 'Knock You Down' by Keri Hilson, and immediately gasped in excitement. "Cool! I love this song!"

And then I began to sing.

I was halfway through Keri Hilson's verse when I realized Sora wasn't singing along. Instead, he was just sitting there staring at me like I'd grown a second head.

"Don't you know this song?" She blinked at me.

"Uhhh…" He swallowed, looking nervous. "N…Not really…"

"Really?" Now was my turn to gape. "Well…you're uninformed."

He rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm a guy—"

"Not an excuse," I snapped, standing up and walking to my desk. She picked up my MacBook and typed in my password. "What's your favorite music genre?"

"Uhhh…" He shrugged. "Don't know. Anything, I guess."

"Hmm…" I navigated to YouTube and typed in the name of the song. "I'm going to show you real music." I managed to locate the song and clicked on the link. "Here!"

I waited for Kanye West to finish his rapping part before singing along with Keri Hilson, swaying to the tune.

"Seriously?" He muttered darkly while I was still singing. I frowned at the impolite interruption, but shrugged it off. "I'm going to be singing this song with Riku?"

"Well, me and Riku, more precisely." I tried to control my body temperature as I explained. "Uhhh…yeh. You know, since the storyline is, like, you and, um, Masahiro, you know…fighting over…me, I mean, Yuuki."

"Oh."

It was quiet, and for the first time that afternoon, I'd run out of things to talk about.

"You know what? I'm gonna go change," I announced eventually, handing him my laptop. "You try and memorize the words to that song."

"But—"

"That's Sephy talkin', not me."

I disappeared into my bathroom and looked for appropriate home clothes to wear. I eventually settled on dark jeans, white sneakers and a my white off-shoulder top with 'GREEN IS SEXY' in green capitals. I unbraided my plaits, and, when I was content with my appearance, went to join him again.

(Okay, so maybe I was trying to make a statement with my appearance. The top was _way _too sexy for staying inside.)

"Ah, much better," I sighed in relief, happy to be out of my lacy tights. "So, got it memorized yet?"

He nodded before quickly looking away. "Mm-hmm. Almost."

"Wanna give it a try?" I didn't wait for him to answer and retrieved my MacBook before pressing replay.

Sora had already learned the intro, but he hadn't quite gotten his verses perfect yet. He tripped over words quite a lot and he forgot when to come in once or twice, but I told him I didn't mind. I kept repeating the song until we got it perfect, having a few pauses to talk about stuff along the way.

Time passed way too quickly, and before I knew it it was nearly six o'clock and he said he'd better head home.

I accompanied him to the front door, thinking of something to say. I'd enjoyed it so much that I wanted to do it again, which is probably why I said: "We should do this every day."

He smiled, and I noticed his whole face seemed to light up when he did that. "Yeh, sure."

"Well, uh…" I ransacked my brain for something else to say, but eventually settled on: "Later!"

I watched his retreating back until he turned the corner, and then I closed the door and went back inside. I flicked through a few channels on TV before going upstairs and checking my Facebook account, which I hadn't visited for nearly a week.

I was astonished at how many friend requests I'd gotten. I accepted all of them, even some who I didn't know. I vaguely remembered seeing some of them in the cafeteria and some of my classes, but I'd never actually talked to many of them.

After accepting Riku's request, I navigated to his profile and looked through his photos. He had about a thousand, and most of his photos were photos of himself; himself eating, himself playing basketball, himself playing American football, himself playing Blitzball, himself kissing his girlfriend…

I froze, staring at the picture in shock. I recognized who he was kissing. He was kissing _Yuna_.

I clicked the next picture. Another picture of himself and Yuna. Him and Yuna holding hands, ice-skating, sharing slushies. And then the pictures gradually started being about him and Rikku, and then him and Vanille, him and Lenne, him and Fang…

I eventually couldn't take it anymore and navigated to my homepage, feeling my heart clenching painfully. Riku had gone out with every girl on the cheerleading team, and even then some.

How did I even think I had a chance?

I deleted all my old albums apart from my Family photos, deciding to start anew with new photos, and then suddenly had an idea. I clicked on the search box and typed in 'Sora Kyumuke', waiting for the page to load.

_No results found for your query._

With a sigh of exasperation, I closed the search window.

* * *

**Okay. A bit of Facebook advertisement there. Teehee.**

**LONDON IN ONE DAY!**

**Probably won't be able to post until I get back. Turns out we aren't going to Leicester Square like last year, so I can't get my Roku plushie from TokyoPop. It cost 15 pounds, and last year I used my remaining munny (15 pounds) to buy a JESSE MCCARTNEY CD. Five seconds later, as soon as I'd exited HMV, I saw the TokyoPop shop and regretted buying it. Seriously.**

**Anyway, it's okay, cause when I'm older and become a writer, I'll have munny filling up my bathtub. **

**Xxxx**

**R&R people, like I always say!**

**Two more chappies until Addicted! :D **


	9. Oblivious

**A/N: Ooh yeah! I went through a little sick spell after walking in shorts and a hoodie through London rain last Friday, but now I'm fine. Ish. **

**Also…what's with Londoners and the Royal Family? I mean, PSSHHAAAWWW. No one really CARES.**

**Review replies!**

**Don't Shoot the Puppy: I don't really like that sorta music much…I'm more of as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, John Butler Trio, Scorpions plus any other rock band fan. And some R'n'B, pop and soul music get to me. :P**

**Superpeanutbutter: U should SO do a mini comic one day! But I'm not pushing you. :D And I noticed the Axel line. Haha, I just missed writing about Axel…but Axel is Roxas' friend and this is a Sora/Kairi/Riku fic. So, yeh. My equivalent of Axel is Vanitas now, so I'm good. :D And Olette being in the fic…yeah. Just needed Kairi to get to know about Roxas somehow…OOPS. SPOILERS. **

**Morgead'sgirl: I CAN'T WAIT TO GET BACK TO ADDICTED EITHER! Every time I switch on my computer I'm like 'Scrap Apologize/Angel and continue Addicted instead?' But then I remember I have fans and that the plot will be hard to understand without the merges, so yeah. :D And have you seen the newest Glee episode? The Klaine kiss was the awkwardest thing since Karovsky (if that's how you spell the gay footballers name) and Beiste. Beurk. **

**Roxymccartney: Yeh, I know Jesse isn't that bad—HE'S SMOKIN'. And I bought his CD cause I love him and his music, duh. (They should SO make Sora hav Jesse's voice in Atlantica in the next game. That would SO help him out.) And now I have the CD AND the plushie…EVIL GRIN. JESSE FANGIRLISHNESS FTW!**

**Draco Oblivion: Yeh…Kairi has a crush on Riku, like any normal girl would after taking one glance at his awesomeness (oo-er…), but she likes Sora. Like, a lot. Which I kinda made clear, huh? :D**

**Well of we go then! **

**Disclaimer: If I owned KH, I wouldn't be writing a fanfiction about it. I'd be hurrying up and making KHIII so all the fanfiction writers won't have to satisfy themselves with AUs and KHII continuations that are probably all going to be proved wrong by the time Nomura finally produces the next game. I would also live in Japan, and eat sushi for dinner every day and walk around in my kimono.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I attend the first glee club meeting._

"Be here tomorrow, all of you; tomorrow we're gonna start working on our Set List for Sectionals."

_I invite Sora over to my house._

It was surprising how easy it was to talk to him. He was much easier to talk to than Yuna, Lenne and Rikku. Not to mention Riku; I didn't have to try and control my body heat like how I did with Riku.

_And, when he's gone, I check my Facebook account. And I can only say one thing: Riku sure gets around._

A picture of himself and Yuna. Him and Yuna holding hands, ice-skating, sharing slushies. And then the pictures gradually started being about him and Rikku, and then him and Vanille, him and Lenne, him and Fang…

Riku had gone out with every girl on the cheerleading team, and even then some.

_How do I think I even stand a chance?_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Oblivious**

Thursday morning in the Kairi residence.

"ARIEL? WHERE'S MY TOOTHBRUSH!"

"IT'S IN THE ATTIC!"

"WHAT'S IT DOING IN THE ATTIC!"

"NO EFFING IDEA!"

"MUUUM? WHERE'S MY BLOW-DRYER?"

"I THINK I SAW IT IN THE LAUNDRY…"

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT DOING IN THE LAUNDRY?"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH, YOUNG LADY!"

"I STILL CAN'T FIND MY TOOTHBRUSH!"

"IT'S NOT IN THE LAUNDRY, MUM!"

"CHECK AGAIN!"

"CAN'T FIND IT IN THE ATTIC…!"

"FOUND IT! IT WAS IN THE KITCHEN!"

"WHAT, MY TOOTHBRUSH?"

"NO, MY BLOW-DRYER! THANKS MUM!"

"Welcome, hunny!"

"ARIEL! STILL CAN'T FIND MY TOOTHBRUSH!"

"DID YOU CHECK NEAR THE SINK?"

"…FOUND IT!"

A sigh is heard.

"WHERE DID THE CHICKEN GO? WE'VE RUN OUT OF CHICKEN!"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I nearly missed the bus after all the things that had gone missing in our house. Mum didn't find the chicken after all, so I couldn't grab any breakfast. My hair hadn't quite finished drying as I entered the bus, but I couldn't really do anything about that.

We began with SexEd, and I sat next to Riku. Well, Riku sat next to me.

CONTRACEPTION was written in large across the board, and Reno sat with his legs crossed on his desk, reading a magazine with naked Japanese anime girls on the front cover.

"Uh, Reno?" Riku asked with a bored expression on his face. "Why is the word contraception written on the board?"

"Cause that's today's topic, _duh_," Reno replied, tossing his magazine in the trash. "First for a few questions! What is a condom?"

"Is he freaking serious?" Riku muttered under his breath, giving me a glance. Tidus gave the right answer with a triumphant grin, and Reno started asking obvious questions, like how to use a pregnancy test and when it's okay to abort a baby (something I swear I'll never do).

Riku kept saying the funniest, rudest jokes, and he was remarkably good at imitating people's voices. I found it hard to concentrate since for most of the lesson I was laughing too hard to breath. Riku kept looking at me with this weird expression, which wasn't a surprise; I don't exactly have what someone would call an 'adorable laughter'.

The bell rang, Riku had thankfully stopped with the joking around and I managed to calm myself down.

"Drama," I said with a groan as I got up, trying not to seem too excited. "Big whoop."

I saw Yuna, Rikku and Lenne waiting by the door for me, so I gave Riku a little wave and went over to join them.

"Hey, guys!" Lenne had her hair in a ponytail, which suited her. "I like your hair!"

"Thanks," Lenne replied with a smile. "By the way, you comin' to Shu's birthday on Saturday?"

I had totally forgotten about that. "Of course I am! How could I forget about it?"

Rikku clapped her hands. "Yeh, it's gonna be _super-duper_!"

Yuna rolled her eyes. "To bad mine's in December—not chance of having a beach birthday for me, then."

"Why not?" I asked as we headed to the Drama Hall. "I thought it's sunny all year round?"

"Yeh, well, apart from winter." Yuna wrinkled her nose in disgust. "In winter it's all cloudy and rainy. Ugh. Even snow beats rain."

We arrived at the Drama Hall, after stopping at Rikku's locker to drop off some stuff. Riku and the gang were there, and I was mentally ransacking my wardrobe thinking about what I'd wear. Rikku, Yuna and Lenne had started arguing about which fashion brand was in this season (Prada or Dior?), and I got bored and went over to join Riku and his friends.

They were having this weird conversation about video games, but I didn't really care. "Hey, guys. Sorry for interrupting; I got bored of the fashion debates. By the way, where's your beach party at again?"

"You're having a beach party?" Some guy on the Blitzball team gasped. "How come you didn't invite me?"

"Cause I wasn't actually sure I was having one in the first place," Shuyin replied with a groan.

"Sure you are, Shu," Tidus purred. "It's at the North Beach—can't miss it."

"You guys are hopeless," Shuyin sighed.

"Can't deny your girlfriend, ya," Wakka sniggered, gesturing towards Lenne. "She's totally wid thu idea."

"Don't wanna disappoint Lenny-Wenny, would you?" Tidus cooed in the sweetest voice imaginable. Shuyin growled and shoved Tidus away from his face.

"So the party's still on at the North Beach, right?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," Riku replied, speaking up for the first time since the beginning of the conversation. "Five o'clock."

"I'll bring the booze," Tidus announced cockily. Shuyin whacked his cousin on the back of his head. "HEY! What was _that_ for?"

"You can bring the booze, T, we're all fine with that." Shuyin rolled his eyes, looking slightly pissed. "Just make sure you don't take more than _one_ can this time; I'm tired of having to explain to Mom whenever she finds you naked underneath the couch."

Tidus blushed. "That only happened _once_, Shu! Ugh…"

Tidus' face was so ridiculous that I couldn't stop myself from bursting out laughing. I wouldn't have been surprised if they all left me there laughing like a maniac; I was probably freaking them out with my horrendous laughter.

Sephiroth shushed us and called for all the main characters to take the stage. Riku sighed and I followed him onto the stage, where Roxas, Namine and Sora were waiting. Sora's head was buried in his script, so I guess he didn't see the smile I gave him. Roxas was chewing gum and looking like his gothic self and Namine was just standing there gnawing nervously on her sleeve.

"You five are going to be singing the opening song to this play, which I suspect you all know."

I nodded as I recognized the song: 'Shadow of the Day' by Linkin Park. I smiled slightly; all the five of us seemed to recognize it perfectly.

"Good. Of you go then."

* * *

Well, our first rehearsal didn't go exactly as well as I thought it would be.

It began quite normally. Sora, Roxas and Riku were told to sing the first verse in between them, sharing it into two lines each. They seemed to get that quite well.

Then we had to do the chorus in harmony. Namine voice was barely a whisper, Sora kept tripping over the words, and Roxas gave up halfway, so it was basically just me and Riku singing. That wasn't exactly so bad or anything, but when it was Sora's turn to sing again, he screwed everything up.

We were told to repeat the song over and over until we got it right. Roxas managed to learn the song off by heart and even got how to do the harmony perfectly. Namine managed to raise her voice a little more above a whisper. Riku was just fine, but Sora…well. He was all over the place.

I felt sort of embarrassed and sorry for him at the same time.

He was just fine the previous day, so I assumed it was stage fright. I wanted to ask him what was up when the bell rang, but Sephiroth told Sora to stay back and I had to head to my next class.

* * *

Sora arrived in class barely seconds before Rinoa came back from walking her dog, Angelo. He was so _cute_! I almost had the urge to go and stroke it, but then I noticed how tense Sora was.

I remembered how he hated dogs, and smirked. "Scared?"

He jumped, and then looked relieved when he realized it was me. "Scared? Yeh right." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "You're in this class?"

"Uh…yeh," I confirmed with a giggle. "Actually, I didn't want to take Phys/Chem., but I was one subject behind and had to choose between this, Psychology or Business and Management." He shuddered at the last one, and I rolled my eyes. "Yeh, not much of a choice, huh?"

"Reading minds woulda been pretty cool though, right?"

I rolled my eyes at his immature joke (it was becoming a habit). "Not interested."

Then Riku called me over, gesturing to the space next to him.

I gave Sora an apologetic shrug and headed over to sit next to Riku.

* * *

Sora and Riku were acting funny all day.

After Lunch, Sora kept making all these funny faces. It was impossible not to laugh (curse whoever I inherited this horrible laughter from), but for some reason Riku seemed pissed off as he sat next to me.

He also seemed to have completely forgotten the basics of Calculus, which was weird. I tried re-explaining to him, but he wasn't listening and I eventually got irritated.

"What happened to the Riku who thought Calculus was 'a breeze'?" I asked huffily.

"I dunno. Maybe he just wanted _you_ to explain it to him." He topped off his statement with a million-dollar smile.

I just stared at him. _Is he…is he flirting with me?_ The thought got me giggling fangirlishly till the end of the class.

Then in History, when Barrett was going over the timeline and stopped at the Stone Age, Riku suddenly spoke up and started telling everyone how he wrestled a LIVE BEAR at camp. I was pretty impressed by that, because I hate bears, but I immediately protested when Riku volunteered to use Sora to demonstrate his techniques.

Barrett intervened though, so that period didn't finish with any broken bones.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"Sectionals are in three weeks, guys," Yuna announced when everyone was seated in the Music Hall that afternoon. She had given me a glance and said that whether or not I was in the Songstresses would be decided the next week, but that for the time being I should attend all rehearsals. "So we'd better get going."

She flicked her fingers and Vanille and Lenne headed to the chalkboard. Vanille picked up some red chalk.

"Well, the first thing you guys should know is that the judges are all going to be men for the Sectionals," Lenne stated. "All in their twenties. What that means is that we have a good advantage."

Selphie frowned. "Huh?"

Zidane rolled his eyes and threw his arms behind his head. "I get it…you girls are going to take advantage of the fact that you're women and—"

"Exactly," Lenne cut him off. Vanille wrote the word 'SEXY' on the board with her red chalk. "We're gonna be as _sexy_ as possible."

I was overwhelmed by how debasing that sounded. "What?"

Everyone looked at me.

"I-I mean…are we seriously going to try and seduce _middle-aged _men?"

Yuna raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with that?"

I eventually realized that gaping wasn't going to help anything, and sighed. "No. Not at all."

* * *

After much debating (of which I, Olette and Hope took absolutely no part in), they finally settled on performing the following songs:

'My Humps' by the Black Eyed Peas. (At first, Yuna tried singing 'Fergalicious' by Fergie. She was awesome at it, but Lenne complained and said the song was focused solely on her. After a small argument, the jury settled on 'My Humps' instead.)

'Rude Boy' by Rihanna. (Zidane insisted that 'Rude Boy' was the hottest song on earth, and, since he was the only guy in the debate, they had to take his word for it.)

And 'Beep' by the Pussycat Dolls. (Ditto.)

I pointed out that 'Rude Boy' had no guys singing in it whatsoever, which would probably be a problem, but Yuna just shrugged and said that she'd give the guys some singing parts anyway.

I began seriously doubting my choice in joining the glee club.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Sora wasn't waiting in the bus stop, and I thought maybe he'd already gone home, or something.

I thought maybe he'd be waiting over at my house, but when I stepped off the bus he wasn't there. I went inside and waited.

Two hours passed, and he still hadn't arrived. I sighed and gave up waiting.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Sora and Riku got worse on Friday.

We began with Art, and we were doing Pointillism. I'm not an Art Guru, but I dabble, and the fact that we were working with dots made it even easier. Stella, the Art teacher, was a pretty woman with blonde hair. Riku said she was only nineteen-and-a-half, and I wondered how she was teaching at such a young age.

She said we were doing an Art Evaluation, even though that was my first Art class in the week. (I hadn't really understood my timetable yet, but people with special 'talents' didn't have Art on Wednesday mornings, and instead had 'Gifted and Talented'. I hadn't attended 'Gifted and Talented' class yet, because I hadn't found the room.)

The only thing that made me like that class was that Riku was sitting next to me. There were also Vanille, Hope and Ashe, but Riku didn't really talk to them much. Sitting next to him meant I could smell his minty-aftershave scent all hour.

I snapped out of my comatose state and decided to get to work. I didn't exactly have any ideas, and time was ticking by.

Curiously, I looked at Riku, who was hunched over his drawing, rapidly mashing his red markers onto his paper. He saw me looking and grinned. "What're you doing?"

"Dunno; can't come up with any ideas," I shrugged. "What about you?"

He paused, glanced at his artwork, and then slowly lifted up his arm.

It was a very elaborate heart done in dots of all possible reds, with a white background. It looked amazing; he'd gotten all the curves right and everything.

And then I saw him, staring straight at me with a flirtatious smile.

I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't hold in how giddy I felt and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Everyone in the room whooped, which was pretty embarrassing, and I immediately regretted what I'd done. Riku looked sort of ridiculous with a huge pink lipstick mark on his cheek, but he didn't look that miffed either.

At least I think he didn't; I couldn't make myself look at him for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

**Decided to end the chappie here, for a reason. **

**Lmao…Kairi's got a crush…**

**Watch out for the next installment of ANGEL! :D **

* * *

_**Sneak peek:**_

"_FOOD FIGHT!"_

"_This is Sora, Mum, from school. My…best friend."_

"_What happened to your knee?"_

"_Truth or Dare?"_

* * *

**Those of you who've read Addicted probably know where the first two come from…but the next two, on the other hand…**

**YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO WATCH OUT! *evil cackle***

**Hope fanficcy dot net has fixed its problem before RokuNami Day, otherwise I won't be able to publish my RokuNami Day special…**


	10. Dancin' with Tears in My Eyes

**A/N: Finally reached chappie ten. Phew. Addicted's in the making…should be up soon enough :D This chappie is like mega-long (well, compared to the others at least). **

**Thank you for your reviews, once again! **

**Kairi-namine-chan: Ooops, forgot to reply to u last time. Mabad. Thankies!**

**Draco Oblivion: I know. :D and there's more from where that came from…**

**Superyummycupcakes: Oh, Sora and Riku were just having a bit of a competition to see who can win her attention, which you saw in Addicted chapter twelve and Apologize chapter nine. XD And Thankies in advance! If that is you're doing a mini-comic…**

**ElleGal: Too late. :L**

**ChibixGirafe: Haha. :) Thnx for ur review! **

**Disclaimer: I still don't get why this clause has to be repeated before each chapter…pointless, really. I mean, OF COURSE I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS. DUH. It's not like if I did I'd write FANFICTION about it. Sheesh.**

**Disclaimer #2: Oh, and i disclaim the title, too. I got it from the Kesha song. **

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sora and Riku are acting funny…_

Sora kept making all these funny faces. It was impossible not to laugh, but for some reason Riku seemed pissed off as he sat next to me.

_Shuyin's birthday party is fast approaching…_

"So the party's still on at the North Beach, right?"

"Yes, it is. Five o'clock."

_So are the Sectionals, and, by the way, we're gonna be doing songs about sex and hooking up. How degrading is that?_

"…are we seriously going to try and seduce _twenty_-year-olds?"

Yuna raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with that?"

_And I _think_ Riku's flirting with me. _

"What happened to the Riku who thought Calculus was 'a breeze'?" I asked huffily.

"I dunno. Maybe he just wanted _you_ to explain it to him." He topped off his statement with a million-dollar smile.

_But, well, can't keep my hopes up._

* * *

**Chapter 10: Dancin' with Tears in My Eyes**

"OH. MY. GOD."

I frowned slightly, looking away from the Computer screen at Rikku. We were in Computering on Friday morning after Art, the last class of the morning. "What?"

"I can't BELIEVE you kissed RIKU!"

My cheeks flared up with color, and I quickly looked back at the Computer screen. "Rikku…do you mind keeping it down a little?"

"But…you KISSED RIKU!" Rikku squealed, obviously not caring that there were others in the room. Thankfully, Lenne and Yuna were in the other Computering class.

"On the cheek," I clarified. My eyes were still on the screen but I wasn't really focusing. "And that was because he was flirting with me." I paused. "At least…I think he was."

Rikku giggled.

"What's the big deal, anyway?" I asked. "I mean, it's not like I'm the first person that's kissed him…" I tried hard to cover up how it hurt to say that. I remembered seeing a picture of Riku snogging Rikku on Facebook, and I tightened my grip on the mouse. I felt stupid all of a sudden.

Rikku nodded. "Bu~ut you're forgetting one important factor: Riku's the one that does the kissing. NEVER the other way round."

Ashe blew a bubble; she was sitting next to me, checking her Facebook account and completely ignoring the assignment we were given. "You'd know that if you'd been his friend since middle school."

I noticed the hint of jealousy in her voice, and ignored it. "Oops. Whatever. It's not like it…it _meant_ anything…"

Rikku smirked. "Your cheeks say otherwise…"

My cheeks did indeed say otherwise.

"You like him…" Rikku crooned with a giggle. Vanille and Yuffie, who I hadn't noticed before, joined in.

I rolled my eyes and tried to look as not flustered as possible. "Guys, I've only known this guy for, like, a week. I can't honestly say I like him yet!"

They didn't seem to care, and went on giggling.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Lunchtime, North Destiny College cafeteria.

I was sitting at our usual table, picking at my salad and enviously ogling the Shepherd's Pie that was on everyone else's plate. Even Yuna and Lenne had some, and I felt a bit awkward.

I heard a unique laugh, husky yet childish—Sora's laugh—and spotted Sora sitting in his usual table. I hadn't seen him since the afternoon of the previous day, and remembered he hadn't come to Drama Practice.

I muttered something about getting a drink and went over to Sora's table. I recognized Serah from the Songstresses, and gave her a warm smile. She smiled shyly from the haven of her bulky boyfriend's arm. He had snowy-blonde hair and icy blue eyes, and stubble lining his jaw. He gave me a noncommittal glance before burying his nose in her pink hair.

Penelo wasn't at the table, and I remembered she was doing extra cheer practice with Yuffie and Vanille back in the auditorium. Another pink-haired girl that had to be Serah's sister was looking at me with a not-so-friendly gaze that clearly said 'Whadda you want?'.

Sora blinked at me with his cerulean blue eyes blankly. "Uh…hey."

"Hey," I greeted with a smile. The rest mumbled something in reply. "Uh…I just wanted to know why you weren't at Drama Practice yesterday."

He stood up, and his hair bounced cheerfully. "Oh…well, uh, our Literature teach kinda, uh, gave me a detention cause I had this 600-word essay to do and I, uh…well. Forgot it." He scratched the back of his hair nervously.

I giggled. "Oh. What book're you doing? LOVELESS?" He nodded, and I smiled. "Oh, that's _easy_."

"Hey, not everyone's as freakishly smart as you," Sora countered, crossing his arms.

"Yeh, I know right?" I said in my most pompous voice possible. "You know what? I'll do your essay for you."

"Really?" His face lit up. I nodded, and his grin widened. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Welcome!" I realized I should be heading back to my seat and waved them off.

As soon as I sat down, Riku stood up, picking up his plate of Shepherd's Pie. He had an impish grin on his face, and I immediately feared the worst. "Watch this."

"Wait…what are you—?"

"HEY, SASQUATCH!"

I nearly screamed as Riku launched his plate of pie straight at Sora's head.

Riku was a great thrower. His shot was perfect and right on target; Sora's hair was spattered with mince, cream and potato.

The cafeteria went silent, and then everyone burst into laughter.

Except me.

I noticed Sora's hands tighten around his cutlery, his veins starting to show through his tanned skin. He was trembling slightly, and my first thought was that he was crying. Yuna, Lenne and the cheerleaders were tittering coyly, and Tidus and the Blitzers were laughing their asses off.

And so was Riku. He was standing there, hands on his hips, feeling awfully proud of himself for humiliating someone to make everyone else laugh.

And even though the incandescent school lights made his platinum-silver hair shine and his pale skin glow, at that moment I was royally pissed off with Riku. Royally pissed off.

And then seemingly out of nowhere a plate of pie came flying and went splat right into Riku's face. I saw Sora standing up next to his table, fists clenched, chest heaving, hair speckled with Shepherd's Pie remnants. His eyes were dark and he had a look that said 'I AM EFFING FED UP.'

And then Riku yelled: "FOOD FIGHT!"

I screamed.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"I can't believe they just did that."

An hour later, we were in the restrooms, cleaning up. I had had to change into my sports outfit; my uniform had been entirely ruined by the flying food and drink. The food fight had went on for at least ten minutes until Principal Yoshida entered the cafeteria. Everything halted except for a plate of pasta, and since Riku and Sora had started it, they took the blame.

I had to spend the whole hour of English Literacy alone, feeling sticky, uncomfortable and itchy. I managed to borrow a shower and clean myself up, but I had to change into my sports uniform—tight black shorts and a t-shirt. Yuna had somehow managed to guard her and Lenne with an umbrella, so they weren't seriously damaged. They spent ages re-doing their make-up though, though I didn't see what the point was as it was the end of the day.

"That was just immature," Yuna continued, pursing her lips as she applied some coffee lipstick.

Lenne nodded in agreement and applied some mascara. I struggled to dry my now dripping hair with a towel. All I ended up doing was getting my hair tangled.

"It's gonna take me ages to wash off all this," I groaned, showing them my destroyed uniform. They tutted sympathetically.

"Well, we'd better get moving," Yuna announced, packing up her make-up. "Later."

"We'll pick you up at the bus station, you know, near the supermarket," Lenne informed me. I nodded again and waved them goodbye before once again tackling my hair.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I settled on pulling my damp hair into a messy ponytail, giving up caring. Frustrated, I met Sora at his locker and prodded his shoulder, irritated.

"Did you have to do that?" I muttered when he turned around and saw me. He looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Hey, it was Riku who started it," he shrugged, stuffing his Drama script in his bookbag. (How unorganized he is.) "Not me."

"You retaliated," I added, crossing my arms. "Because of you two bickering, my school uniform is RUINED." I showed him what was left of my uniform.

"Uh…" He looked sort of guilty, and sheepishly stammered and apology. "S-Sorry."

I tried hard to keep a frown, but it was impossible with the adorable look he was giving me. "It's not your fault. I mean, Riku kinda pushed you over the edge, huh?"

"Yeh," he replied coldly. "He's an idiot." He slammed his locker door shut with a bang.

"He's not as bad as you make him sound," I protested, falling into step beside him as we headed to the bus park. "He's a pretty nice guy."

He left it at that, and we continued our twenty questions game in the bus. I learned that Sora doesn't particularly like anything, but absolutely detests angsty music and anything by Evanescence and My Chemical Romance. I laughed at his face when I told him that 'Going Under' by Evanescence was in the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack. I didn't want to torture him and didn't make us practice it in the session.

"So, whadda you wanna sing first?" I asked through my bathroom door as I changed out of my sports outfit into something better; a green sweater and my Halloween black ruffle skirt.

"I dunno," I heard him reply from my bedroom. I brushed out my hair once more, reapplied foundation and then exited the bathroom. Sora was at my desk, looking at one of my photos.

He was looking at a photo of Namine and I, the photo we'd taken in Radiant Garden when I was fourteen and Namine was thirteen, when Namine had come for a summer visit. My heart compressed as I remembered how close Namine and I used to be, how happy Namine used to be before her Dad died.

"That photo was taken ages ago," I managed to make myself say. "With my half-sister, Namine."

"Namine's related to you…" He mumbled, as if realizing for the first time.

"Mm-hmm." I took the photo from him and put it back on the table, trying to change subject before he started asking more questions. "Why don't let's get started?"

We spent two hours singing, going over our lines, and just talking.

And then someone opened the door to my room—MOM.

I jumped off the bed in shock. "Mom! I-I…I didn't know you'd be back this early!"

Mum ignored me and kept her eyes glued to Sora, smiling. I was afraid she was going to say something like 'Remember—safe sex!', but Mum just said: "Who is this lovely young man?"

"This is Sora, Mum, from school." I was surprised, but tried not to show it. I was lucky Mum hadn't done anything super embarrassing yet. "My…best friend."

"Best friend, huh?" Mum repeated, still looking at Sora. She seemed to approve of him. "Nice to meet you, Sora."

"Same to you, uh…Kairi's Mom." He gave me a nervous glance.

Mum laughed at his cuteness. "Aw, aren't you adorable. Call me Ariel, it makes me sound younger. I've heard a lot about you, Sora."

"Mum…" I groaned, wishing I hadn't told her all the things I had. I wanted her to disappear before she said anything too embarrassing. "Can you, um, leave us alone now?"

"Sure thing," Mum giggled, disappearing behind the door. "Just don't get too frisky…"

I yelled in indignation, feeling my face heating up. Way for Mom to make it awkward.

Sora seemed to find it funny, and started laughing. As much as I loved the sound of his laugh, I just had to stop him by whacking him across the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Enough fun and games; let's get serious," I muttered, tired and still a bit pissed as I sat down next to him again. "Sorry about my Mum, she's…" I didn't really know how to finish, so I let him imagine.

"Nah, it's okay," he replied. "I know how mum's can get."

"Tell me about it," I sighed, lying down on her back. My sigh turned into a yawn. "I'm _so tired_…"

"Same," he replied. "I can go home now, if you want."

"No…stay…" I took another big yawn, and realized how tired I was. My eyes started drooping closed, but I willed myself to stay awake.

"No, seriously," he insisted. "It's fine. Plus, I gotta get going anyway; my mum was mad at how late I got back last time."

"Mmm…oh well…" I turned over onto my stomach for a better position, lying on my pillow. "Goodnight."

"It's five o'clock in the afternoon, Kai."

"Meaning?"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I woke up and it was dark. I heard noises coming from my bathroom and rubbed my eyes. "Mum?"

No one answered, so I groggily stood up and headed to the bathroom myself.

I opened the door, and saw Namine.

And gasped.

She was lethargically scrubbing at a very painful looking bruise on her right knee with some damp toilet roll. She looked dazed, and I noticed tear marks line her cheeks when she looked up at me.

"Namine?" I whispered. "What're you doing here?"

She was quiet for some time, but eventually mumbled: "Mum called and said I should stay over here for dinner…"

"Oh. That's…cool." I winced as she swabbed at the wound roughly. "What happened to your knee?"

Her lips quivered, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears, but couldn't. "I…I f-fell…bumped my knee…on the pavement."

I nodded slowly. "It looks pretty bad…have you shown Mum? Mum could bring the first aid kit and—"

"No," Namine faltered. "I…I don't want Mom to worry…"

"Okay," I replied. Namine dabbed at her wound again, and I couldn't take it anymore. "Let me do it."

I replaced the toilet roll with real cleansing swabs, and washed it out until it was clean before letting her rub it with repairing cream. I went to my drawer and retrieved a large plaster. All the while she stayed still and watched me.

"All done!" I exclaimed when I was done before going to the sink and washing off my hands.

"…thank you," Namine mumbled barely above a whisper.

"That's what big sisters are for, right?" I grinned. "And, Namine…I just want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to…I'll be here…alright?"

Namine gave me a slow nod.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Namine hardly touched her food, and went to bed as soon as we got up from the table. She was fast asleep when I went upstairs.

But in the middle of the night she started whimpering, moaning, screeching. And once or twice I heard her whimper: "_S-Seifer, p-please._"

But I ignored it, because I was tired, ignorant, and too blind to notice my sister's suffering.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I gave myself one long last look in the mirror, taking in my appearance. My hair was creased in the front and held up in the back in a style that took hours to get right. My eyes were decked with waterproof mascara, and I hadn't worn too much make-up since it was going to be a beach party. I wore my pink bikini underneath a not-too-short periwinkle blue babydoll dress.

I was unsure whether I was too dressed up or too not dressed up, but decided to leave before I started running late. I had to meet Yuna, Rikku and Lenne at the bus stop in about ten minutes.

I strapped on white sandals and picked up my beach bag before heading downstairs. Mum was outside, hanging laundry, and I gave her a wave in goodbye.

"Be back by midnight, latest," Mum told me, and I gave an affirmative nod.

I arrived at the bus stop not too soon later, just as Yuna pulled up in her car. It was a sweet cherry red convertible, the kind that only movie stars had.

She was wearing Ray-Bans, a red bikini underneath a black hoodie, and tight grey jeggings that went well with her boots. She looked like a sort of model-slash-prostitute, but I didn't tell her that.

Rikku was wearing large Gucci shades, mini-jean shorts, and a yellow off-the-shoulder top that matched with the many bobbles she had tied around her small wrists. Her hair was in its usual rowdy style, minus all the beads and all. She probably didn't want to lose them in the water.

Lenne looked the prettiest, with her mini flared skirt and her blue bikini to match her eyes. She was also wearing sandals, like me, and Dior sunglasses. Heck, everyone had sunglasses on except me, and I felt a bit left out. It_ was_ the beginning of autumn, right?

"I-I…wow…I love your car!" I marveled, ogling it.

Yuna grinned. "Yeh…it was a birthday present…I don't use it often, except for special occasions and stuff."

"You look gorgeous, Kai!" Rikku squealed, clapping in delight, which made me smile. Rikku moved over so I could climb in next to her, and then we headed off.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We spent the twenty-minute car ride giggling and gossiping and singing along to Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream'. Rikku and Lenne were crazy enough to stand up in their seats and dance on their chairs, which was pretty dangerous on the road, but they didn't seem to care.

We arrived at North Beach, and I stepped out of the car onto the soft sand. I could feel its velvetiness through my sandals.

"Yoohoo!" Rikku waved at a group of guys on the beach. As we got closer I realized they were Wakka, Shuyin, Tidus and Riku. Wakka and Tidus were splashing water at each other like an old couple, while Riku and Shuyin surfed. My heart skipped a beat when Riku noticed our arrival and expertly skimmed off a wave to come and join us.

His hair was wet and the sea water dripped down his muscular arms; he looked like some kind of model. "Hey."

"Hey," I managed to choke out. I struggled not to look at his inviting stomach and instead looked at Shuyin (who was also in nothing but swimming trunks. Ugh.). "Happy birthday, Shuyin!"

Shuyin had his arms around Lenne, but gave me a thankful smile. "Thanks."

"I feel so small now," Lenne whined in a voice she never used around Yuna, Rikku and me. "You're _eighteen_. An _adult_."

"Yup," Shuyin confirmed with a smile, kissing her on the forehead. "And you're still so little."

Lenne and Shuyin started teasing each other, and we started feeling sick. Fang, Yuffie, Vanille, Ashe and some cheerleaders were playing volleyball.

"Volleyball, huh?" I said out loud before I heard myself. "Now that's a sport."

"Anyone can play volleyball," Riku put in, draining his cup of whatever it was that was being served at the drink stand. "It's just hitting a stupid little ball around a field."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged. "If you think it's so easy, I'd like to see you play."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease."

Tidus momentarily pulled himself out of his trance (i.e. staring at Yuna) and butted into our conversation. "What's this? A volleyball challenge?"

"Yeah," Riku replied. "Boys vs. girls."

"May the best team win," I said in my most challenging voice possible.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Our team won. Yuffie, Rikku and I were a ruthless trio. Vanille and Lenne just lazed around on the field, and Yuna and Fang insisted they were too tired to play.

But we still left the guys eating dust. Riku and Tidus were fuming by the end of it, while we were in hysterics.

The sun started to go down so everyone headed inside.

If you thought Shuyin and Tidus' house was big on the outside, it was even BIGGER on the inside.

Urban dance music was playing, drinks were _à volonté_, the lights were dimmed and it was the typical party atmosphere.

I immediately stiffened.

I tried not to let my discomfort show and followed the crowd. I absently sipped a few cups of drinks, feeling a bit awkward. Everyone was talking animatedly, discussing pastimes and sharing inside jokes, and I didn't feel right. I had only known these people for a week; I didn't belong in their little group of friends.

Riku occasionally talked to me, but I didn't really hear over the loud music. Then Rihanna's 'Cheers (Drink to That)' started playing, and Rikku, Lenne and Yuna forced me to join in singing with them.

For some reason I couldn't stop giggling, which was awfully embarrassing, but it was okay since the others were in giggles as well.

Time passed before I knew it, and the Blitzers and Cheerleaders eventually went home, leaving only the original group: Shuyin, Wakka, Tidus, Riku, Yuna, Rikku, Lenne, and me.

I felt a bit dizzy and was thinking of going to sleep when Tidus suggested: "How bout a game of Spin the Bottle?"

I was entirely against the idea, but no one else seemed to mind.

The game started. We span the bottle. Some people picked Truth, some people picked Dare, and some people picked Double Dare. Miraculously, the bottle managed to completely miss me all the time.

Time passed. Yuna, Lenne, Wakka and I hadn't been picked yet, but Tidus now had a bra on his head, Shuyin had lipstick smooches all down his arm, Lenne was giggling madly, Rikku was half-asleep against the couch and Riku had his hair in twin pigtails.

I willed myself not to blush.

Tidus span the bottle, and it landed on Riku.

Riku cursed under his breath.

"Truth, Dare or Double Dare?" Tidus asked with a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.

Riku's arm was the only thing keeping his head upright. "Truth, whatever."

"Aw, come on…be a man," Tidus teased.

Riku gestured to his hair. "You got me to do this. What more do you want?"

Tidus and Riku shared a look.

"Whatever," Riku muttered, flustered for some reason.

"Okay…" Tidus scrunched his blond brows in thought. "Hmm…let's see…have you ever had a wet dream about a guy before?"

Wakka and Shuyin seemed to find this funny, but Riku just grimaced in disgust. "Hell no!"

"Well, you never know," Shuyin said. "Some people lean that way…"

"You guys are sick…" Riku muttered.

The song on the radio finished playing, and some dude started going over the daily news. Some guy had taken a marijuana overdose or something, and had just died in the hospital.

"I really don't get why people take marijuana anyway when they know they're going to die in the end," Lenne mumbled, shaking her head.

"That's just sad," Shuyin agreed.

I nodded in agreement as Tidus moved to spin the bottle again. I caught Riku out of the corner of my eyes. His fists were clenched and he looked uncomfortable.

"Riku?" I asked inquisitively. "Are you okay?"

Everyone's attention was on Riku now. His jaw clenched, and he stood up.

"Yo, what's the matter, man?" Tidus protested as soon as he started heading out.

"I…I just need some air," Riku muttered. "I'm on the balcony, if you need me."

He went out to the balcony and slammed the door behind him.

The house was silent, except for the annoying woman speaking on the radio.

Yuna frowned. "That's weird. Riku never leaves in the middle of the party. That's a first."

"O…kay…?" Tidus clapped his hands and span the bottle. It landed on Yuna. "Truth, Dare or Double Dare?"

I couldn't concentrate; I had this hankering to go outside and meet him to ask him what was wrong. He looked so troubled…

(Okay, so I had a little problem with guys who looked sad.)

I noticed he'd left his coat on the couch. I'd found my excuse. "I'm…I'm gonna go give him his jacket, 'kay?"

No one seemed to hear me; they were all too busy watching Wakka strip-tease in front of Yuna. I picked up Riku's coat and headed out to the balcony.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I took a deep whiff of sea breeze as I stepped outside onto the balcony. Riku was already there, leaning against the handrail and looking off into the ocean. The wind whipped at his hair, which was now free of hair bobbles.

"Riku?" He turned around at my voice. My face warmed up at his intense gaze. "I…I noticed you go out without a coat…and it's pretty cold out at night…" That was true; I could feel the breeze through my hoodie.

He smiled. "Thanks, Kai." He pulled it on before leaning back on the railing.

I tentatively did the same. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, looking like some movie star. I sighed and looked off into the ocean. The waves glistened even more in the moonlight. I saw Riku looking at me, like he was surprised I was still there.

"Oh…uh…you don't mind me joining you, do you? I'm not really the partying type…"

He looked amazed. "Really? You seemed pretty partyish before."

I giggled for some reason. "Really? How do you define 'partyish'?"

He shrugged. "Well…you looked like you were having a pretty good time, drinking and partying and dancing and stuff…"

_Great. He probably thinks I'm crazy now. He saw me dance like a chicken._ I giggled, even though nothing was funny. That was totally the drink going to my head. "To tell you the truth, that's the first time I've drunk alcohol in my life. Probably why I'm so giggly." _Didn't have to add that._

He chuckled, which eased my uneasiness. "Well. You took your first shot professionally."

Another giggle escaped my stupid throat. I really felt like strangling myself. I caught a glimpse of his smile in the moonlight. "So…what's up?"

"Nothing much."

"You just got up and left in the middle of the party…you seemed pretty miffed…and Yuna says you never leave in the middle of a party…" I was babbling now.

"I'm fine," he cut in curtly. "Just…needed some air."

"Oh." I started chewing on my fingernails, a really bad habit of mine. "If…if something's bothering you…you can tell me, you know."

He paused, and then started to speak. "Sometimes I feel like everything I do is a stupid charade. Most of my friends are my friends because of how I act around them. That _isn't_ me, but…" He shook his head and sighed. "Do you know that feeling you get when you know something is _your_ fault, and you feel nobody else gets it?"

"When you feel like the whole world is suffocating you?" I continued. "Yeh…I get what you mean. I know how it feels to have to hide who you really are, to have to hide what you feel, just because you're afraid what everyone else will think. I know how it feels when you make one stupid mistake, and you really, really want to tell someone, to just _speak_…" My voice wavered, and I noticed I was crying. "Sh-shit…"

"Kairi?" I heard his ask curiously.

I must have looked like a nutcase, sniffling and whimpering and going all bipolar. "S-Sorry, Riku." I sniffed and wiped my eyes. Thank god for waterproof mascara. "I-I'm…I'm just not feeling very chipper right now."

'Chipper'? _Chipper_? What century are we in? I was really out of it.

"I'm…I'm sorry…did I say something wrong?" Crap. Now Riku was making me feel guilty.

I giggled for some unknown reason. "No you…you didn't do anything. I…I just get weird sometimes."

"Is there anything—?"

"I'm gonna go home now, 'kay?" I babbled, trying to stop my raging emotions. What was wrong with me? "Tell Shuyin and the others."

I couldn't stand the look on Riku's face and turned around and headed out.

* * *

**FINALLY. That chappie was HELL to write.**

**I really didn't know how to end that chappie, or where for that matter. All these ideas…I had a crazy writer's block doing this. So ignore the failed plotness, and stuff.**

**My fingers were on fire typing this. You don't know how many times I had to re-do this. :P **

**Thanks for your reviews! Addicted is in the making, but Apologize chappie ten will be up before ADD-15! Don't worry, ADD-15 will be up by latest next week Monday! Danka!**

**I'd rather you review me out of your own will that force you to. :)**

**No. Really. **


	11. Friendship and Glee

**A/N: Hey people. Kairi's side of the tale is back.**

**Hope you all enjoyed the latest installment of Addicted. I personally think it sucked. **

**Replies, daijoubu? **

**Jellybean2799: Okie chokes liddle sistah. **

**Draco Oblivion: Yup…but we're gonna soon take a break from all the darkness…it's getting depressing. And this fic was partially listed under humor, so it'd better be getting funny. *check* Wait, no, it wasn't. Oh well. But you get what I mean. **

**Morgead'sgirl: IKR! I love RiKai…but SoKai's bettah. Har har. **

**Superyummycupcakes: I really liked writing the super long chappie. Teehee! And Riku's gonna need a shoulder to cry on…that's what Kairi's there for. Lol. And I can't believe how long this story's gonna be. If I want to fit everything in, it's gonna be, like, thirty chapters long. Or more. O_O. Anyway, I found out what 'commission' meant **_**after **_**I used Annria2002's art to inspire the last chappie's Truth or Dare scene. I probably should have disclaimed that. Don't worry, I disclaimed it in Apologize. :P Sorry if I got you all hyped up for nothing. But I do love Annria2002's art—they inspire me! I really want her to do a 'commission' for me…but I don't know how to. And I have a feeling it involves munny (which I don't have :P). **

**ChibixGiraffe: Lol you make me laugh. ^^ And an uber FIST PUMP to you too! And I'm still thinking of using one of your ideas in here… *puts thinking cap on and goes all serious***

**Anonymous guy/girl who forgot to put in his/her penname: Yup. Seifer is almost always portrayed evil. Which was why I tried to make him semi-nice in Hero::Heroine. I hate how everyone discriminates poor Seify. It's not his fault he has temper problems and likes parading around in a dress and a beanie. Can't blame him. **

**Rayne Destiny: Yes, it was. I did a little of it in Hero::Heroine, but I don't know when I'm gonna get round to continuing that one. Probably by December, or something. I can't believe I started Angel on the 22****nd ****on January! Wow…time flies fast. And I really think you should read Addicted—everyone loves that one most! I don't really know why…probably just the Sora-vibe I guess. :)**

**Well off we go! About the chapter: Kaiora-ness, Kaiku-ness, and other drabble and stuff. **

**Disclaimer: DON'T OWN BLAH BLAH BLAH DON'T SUE! **

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_All my friends think I have a crush on Riku. How crazy is THAT?_

"I can't BELIEVE you kissed RIKU!"

_Okay. Well. _

"What's the big deal, anyway?" I asked. "I mean, it's not like I'm the first person that's kissed him…" I tried hard to cover up how it hurt to say that.

_Riku decides to be a huge jerk and start a food fight._

"HEY, SASQUATCH!"

I nearly screamed as Riku launched his plate of pie straight at Sora's head.

_Namine 'tripped' and damaged her knee. _

"What happened to your knee?"

Her lips quivered, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears, but couldn't. "I…I f-fell…bumped my knee…on the pavement."

_And I go to the second high-school party in three years. And end up blubbering in front of Riku._

I know how it feels when you make one stupid mistake, and you really, really want to tell someone, to just _speak_…" My voice wavered, and I noticed I was crying. "Sh-shit…"

_And now Riku must think I'm some kind of bipolar weirdo with issues._

_But who cares, right?_

_Wrong._

* * *

**Chapter 11: Friendship and Glee**

It was a bit weird in Math on Monday morning, especially since I was sitting next to Riku.

As soon as I got back home on Saturday night, I had disappeared into my bedroom and bawled my eyes out. I didn't know what was wrong with me. IT had happened. IT would always be etched in the back of my mind, no matter how much I tried to forget IT.

I eventually woke up with a throbbing headache, and stayed in all day. I thought of calling in sick on Monday morning, but my Mum said it was out of the question.

So now here I was, sitting next to Riku, listening to Squall drone on about boring math stuff I already knew. Even though I could smell Riku's overwhelming scent from where I sat, I still felt uncomfortable. Seeing as the last time we'd spoken was at Shuyin's party, outside on the balcony, and I'd started bawling for no reason, it wasn't that easy to start up a conversation.

I caught Riku shooting glances at me all hour, but I pretended I didn't see him.

Then, when I was getting up when the bell rang, Riku grabbed my wrist.

I turned to him with a look of shock. "What?"

He was slightly frowning, his eyes imploring. "I…I'm sorry."

I didn't get it. "For what?"

"I don't know. Whatever I did to make you like…this." He muttered, still searching me with his eyes.

I sighed. "You didn't do anything, Riku…just forget about it, okay?"

Riku shook his head. "I can't forget about it. Something's wrong, Kairi, and I want to—"

"Just drop it, okay?" I snapped, jerking my arm out of his grip. His arm slowly fell back to its usual position, and he looked slightly hurt.

I broke away from his pained gaze and stalked off to English Literacy, ignoring the looks I was getting from the rest of the class, who had probably seen the little scene that Riku'd caused. How embarrassing!

I was in a particularly crappy mood, and it didn't help when Aqua handed back our Spelling Tests. I'd gotten an A+ (DUH), which was just perfect, but Sora had gotten a D-, even though he got everything right.

"How did you get a D?" I shrieked, frowning at his paper. Someone had written horrible spellings in the place of the correct answers. "I never made any of these mistakes!"

"Well, I knew it wasn't Sora who did the work." Aqua appeared next to us with a sickly sweet smile. "But I couldn't exactly give him an F, could I? Next time, Sora, just tell me if you're having problems instead of cheating."

"That's discrimination!" I snarled once Aqua had moved her stupid butt out of the way. "We need to start a riot about this! We have the right to cheat!"

"Uh, Kai, it's okay." Sora chuckled, looking kind of nervous. (Okay, so I was causing a bit of a scene. Big deal.) "Look, I'm just happy I got something higher than an E for once."

I stared at him skeptically. "Seriously? That's the highest you've ever got in a spelling test."

Sora shrugged, playing with his fingers. "Yeh, cause my parents can't pay for a special school."

I still didn't get it. "Huh? Why would you need to—"

"I'm dyslexic," he replied bluntly. "I thought it was obvious."

"Really?" I immediately felt bad. I must have sounded so mean! "S-Sorry, I didn't know…"

He just smiled forgivingly, as if he was used to it. "Hey, I don't mind. Really."

I made sure he was serious before sighing in defeat. "Okay. But, you know, if you need any help with your homework or anything…I could help, if you want."

I knew I was starting to babble, but he replied with a thanks. Then we continued our 20 questions game, scribbling down on paper instead of speaking when Aqua wasn't looking. I started running out of questions, and eventually came up with the randomest question on the planet as we headed to Sports.

"What's the best article of clothing you can think of a girl wearing?"

He blinked at me inquisitively, and I immediately felt foolish. I felt a blush beginning to creep onto my cheeks, but, thankfully, he had turned away, thinking. I patiently waited as we headed to the Sports Wing.

He eventually spoke up. "A wedding dress."

Okay, I was SO not expecting that. "A…wedding dress?"

"Yup, a wedding dress." Sora nodded. He looked distant, as if he was really thinking about his answer. "When a girl's in a wedding dress, you know, walking down the aisle and everything, she couldn't look any happier. Her face seems to illuminate with light and she's thinking that nothing could be better than that…" I noticed him swallow, looking down at his feet as he concluded. "It's the happiest moment of her life when she's in that dress, which is why I think that's the best thing a girl could be wearing."

I saw his fists clench, and his teeth gritting together. He looked so forlorn it hurt, and I felt guilty, for some reason. It wasn't the same feeling I felt when I saw Riku like that, but it was something.

"Sora…?" I eventually got tired of doing nothing and decided to ask. "Is…is anything wrong?"

"…nothing's wrong. I'm…" His voice was faint, and he looked even more dejected. Before I could blink, Sora had disappeared and was running down the hall in the direction of Gymnasium II.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Namine wasn't in Sports, which I kind of expected. I was sitting on the bench, alone, watching the others work-out and practice cheers while I tried not to think of Sora's odd behavior.

What was wrong with me? Me and my nosy behavior. First Riku and now Sora. I just couldn't quit being snoopy, could I?

I sighed and got to my feet, kicking the flow of blood back into my legs. I asked the Sports teach for permission and then left the Gymnasium. I originally intended to go to the bathroom, but my legs had other thoughts. I found myself poking my head through the bars at the back of Gymnasium II, giving me a direct view into the guys' Sports session.

Sweaty, attractive-looking guys running around with balls and chucking them at each other, throwing curses and taunts every once in a while. A fangirl's heaven.

I spotted Riku in the midst of them, tossing a large Blitzball at Tidus, who I assumed was his partner. He looked lost in thought, his matchless eyes slightly glazed over. He was sweating, and his hair was pulled into a ponytail, with a few loose strands of silver framing his face. Tidus prodded him on the shoulder, snapping Riku out of his trance. Tidus must have said something dirty, because Riku's cheeks flared up with color. Riku rolled his eyes and handed Tidus the ball, before looking my way.

Wait.

I immediately freaked, spinning around and hiding behind one of the beams that held the building up. My heart was pounding wildly, and I had a feeling my cheeks once again matched my hair.

I took a peep and made sure Riku wasn't looking before rushing back to where I came from.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was really awkward in Drama Practice.

I wasn't really sure how to act around him, you know, seeing our previous encounter had been a bit…weird. I kept glancing at him, and he looked pretty…bored. I don't know.

He made mistakes reading the script, mixing up a few letters, but I knew better than to correct him. I sang my 'Simple and Clean' solo, and then we went over 'Knock You Down' again. I suggested we do it standing up. Sora didn't seem to really have any life today, and I eventually got exasperated when he screwed up on the script for the umpteenth time.

"What is with you?" I sighed irritably.

"Nothing is 'with me'," he replied stubbornly, tossing his script onto my bed and sitting down. "I'm just…gotta lot on my mind."

I was going to retort bitterly, but I couldn't when I saw his face. The same lost, pained, troubled expression was etched on his features. "You could talk about it, if you want."

And to my surprise, he did. Turns out his life was really crappy. Over the course of an hour, I managed to learn a lot about his complicated life. His parents were always fighting, and his stepdad, who he called 'Zack', had hit his mom the previous weekend. For twins, he and Roxas weren't really close, and he'd heard that Roxas was in some kind of gang and hung out with 'prezzies and druggies', as he put it. Then he started drifting towards school problems, like how he was failing Calculus and English Literacy, how he was being forced to join the Blitzball Team, even though he was 'physically unable to catch a ball' and had asthma, resulting in him being incapable of holding his breath underwater.

Somewhere along the line my hand found its way around Sora's back, and I started rubbing his back in a way I hoped was comforting. Mum always used to do it to me, and it always helped.

When he had finished his recount, I didn't really know what to say. But I finally settled on: "Well. Your life is…messed up."

"Tell me about it," he mumbled forlornly.

I hastily tried to cheer him up. "Don't worry, I'm sure your parents will work it out…somehow. And your brother—Roxas, wasn't it?—should come around soon enough. Though I think you should confront him about it, before it's too late."

"He's been in that street gang since the middle of summer," he mumbled. "It's probably already too late."

I was starting to get freaked out. Roxas? A street gang? That was just freaky. And Namine hung out with him…maybe I could get her to find out?

I didn't mention this thought to Sora, though; he didn't even know Namine and he probably wouldn't have wanted someone he didn't know to know about his personal problems.

"I'm not going to lie and say it's never too late, or something that cliché. But…well. You'll figure something out."

The edges of his lips pulled up into an amused smile.

"And I think I could help you with Calculus. And Lit." I squinted my eyes in thought, tapping my chin. "We could probably squeeze in some lessons after school on Wednesdays, or on the weekends, or something."

Sora's smile vanished, and he looked terrified. "Hell no."

I felt myself smile fondly, and I waggled a scolding finger at him. "Hey, I wasn't the one who started complaining about my Math scores. And plus—you're in Junior year. We got the FINALS next year. Like FINAL finals."

"I don't see myself passing those," I heard him mutter.

"You've gotta believe you will if you want yourself to pass," I snapped, pouting. "Haven't you watched Peter Pan?"

Sora looked at me weirdly, and I immediately felt embarrassed.

And then he started laughing. His adorable and unique laugh that somehow gave me this weird tickling feeling inside. For some reason I was unable to frown. His laughter was contagious, and I began to laugh along with him.

We laughed until we ran out of breath, and then it was silent. The room was so taciturn that I could hear his heartbeat. I could feel his breath on my cheeks; it smelt of peppermint. And then I realized how close our faces were. We were so close that I could see every single one of his eyelashes, his thick eyebrows, his spiky-yet-soft russet spikes, every pore of his slightly tanned skin…

And then there was this loud buzzing noise, and the moment ended.

I heard myself curse (thank God mum wasn't at home to reprimand me and tell me to contribute to the Swear Jar) as I slipped out my phone, a Blackberry Storm2. Haha—yes, I'm bragging.

"Riku," I explained to Sora. My face felt a little hot, so I quickly answered the call.

"_Hey, Kai._" His voice was still noticeable over the telephone.

"Oh…hey, Riku," I replied, gripping my telephone. _Get a GRIP of yourself, girl!_

"_Um…I…I just wanted to…ask…_" He hesitated and cleared his throat. "_How you been? Didn't see you much after Math._"

"Oh…I've been okay. You?"

"_Great. Um…about what happened…_"

I didn't like where this conversation was heading. "What about it?"

"_I'm sorry; I shouldn't have tried to push you into telling me something you don't want to._"

Great. He was still thinking about that. "No…it's fine."

"…_which is why, as an apology, I was thinkin'…um…are you doing anything this weekend?_"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was Riku…was Riku considering asking me out?

_No. That's impossible,_ I thought.

"_Hello?_"

"No, I'm not doing anything this weekend." My heart was thudding against my chest, and my palms felt sweaty. I don't know what overcame me as I babbled something along the lines of "my-moms-calling-me-gotta-go-ttyl" into the phone and hung up.

I immediately felt pretty stupid. What was wrong with me?

Sora was still there, standing up with his arms behind his head, waiting innocently.

I smiled at him and got to my feet, pulling him into an encouraging hug. He smelt of croissants and bagels and the bakery. "Hope everything works out for ya, buddy."

"Thanks," he mumbled into my hair. I could feel his lips on my scalp, and I struggled to stop myself from doing anything stupid. I pulled away quickly, and waved him off as he exited my room.

And then I lay back on my bed and looked at the ceiling, feeling happy, anxious, and, most of all, confused.

* * *

**Lmao. That was veritable MERDE.**

**Translate that. I don't usually swear, but this is an exceptional case.**

**Oh sod it all. R&R you lovely readers. **

**Next chappie shall bring some Roxiri or RiKai or something. I'm not sure really. Whatever, but next chappie's Wednesday!**

**Sneek peeks: **

"_Roxas. Roxas Kyumuke."_

"_Who the hell is that?"_

"_I'm in the Songstresses!"_

**Meh. I would give you more Sneek Peeks, but, honestly, I'm not really sure what the next chappie will bring. Be prepared for surprises. **

**XXXX and a gazillion OOOOOs! **

**Stay cool.**

**Oh, and the review button's feeling neglected. Think about the poor and starving and homeless. Find you humanity. Every review you give to this fanfic sends another 100 yen to the poor children in Japan.**

**Nah I'm just kidding. :)**


	12. Family Drama

**A/N: Hell yeh. I be BACK people. **

**Don't u just hate haters? xD My life's generally being suckish atm, yanno. I'm actually on a diet, but…well. Stuff happen. I have the tendency to eat pizza. **

**I have no idea what the hell I'm on about, so let's just ignore me and go onto the review replies. **

**Draco Oblivion: Haha, I know. Riku's getting shot down was a little harsh…but it was necessary. I mean, I need the plot to develop before he asks her. Haha, there's way too many peeping toms in this fic. First Sora, and now Kairi… *sigh tsk tsk* And the Roxiri in this chappie will be close to nil, I think. Meh, it'll be something. But, well, I can't promise anything. **

**xCarryOnDancingx: Yay! Fangirl moments FTW! (hahah lol). And I used to hate Riku…he's so annoyingly perfect. And he's sorta always been a bully…but I needed to make him sorta lyk the Riku in the game. But I fell in love with Riku in KHII (pure awesomeness and the epitome of epic win!). Which is why I wanted to make him not so hate-worthy in Apologize (pretty much failed at that). Glad u like the fic tho! And homework royally sucks—I approve. **

**Gxmwp: Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'll mellow down on the RikuxKairi soon enough. But we'll need all the RikuxKairi we can get for now. SoraxKairi'll come up later. Don't worry, they'll have their moments. xD**

**Jellybean2799: Haha yh thnx. ^^ I dunno, any chappie that has plot failure and fails to address the chappie's motive is…well, crap for me. :L**

**Superpeanutbutter: Haha, really? I really thought I screwed up Kairi's character…I thought, especially after the latest chappie of Addicted, that people would see Kairi as some sort of annoyingly giggly whore. I dunno. Lmao ur review made my stomach do all those weird dances, you know, like when your crush smiles at you. Not that I have a crush on you or anything (ewwww…not that you're not crush-worthy or—ugh, you know what I mean), but I get the same feeling when someone praises me on my writing skills. ^^**

**RayneDestiny: Haha, you've probably finished Addicted by now, but you'll see that it's more critically acclaimed than the other two. xD**

**ChibixGiraffe: The pleasure's all mine. ^^ …wait. What? Ugh, whatever. Enjoy the chappie!**

**Morgead'sgirl: You know what I'd say? Poor all of them. I mean, their lives royally suck. But it'll get better, I promise. **

**TheKidWhoSkate a.k.a Skateboard: Yup, you're right. Well, for the moment anyway. But this story is Sokai and always will be Sokai. Even if it doesn't seem like it right now. And Kairi's his best friend, which kinda complicates stuff. Dunno, really. **

**Well…off we go! Onto chappie 12! HAR HAR! **

**Disclaimer: NO OWNIO NADA! **

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Riku's being a little nosy lately._

"I…I'm sorry."

I didn't get it. "For what?"

"I don't know. Whatever I did to make you like…this." He muttered, still searching me with his eyes.

_I learn something about Sora._

"I'm dyslexic," he replied bluntly. "I thought it was obvious."

_But something's bugging him. Well, more than one thing, really. _

Turns out his life was really crappy. Over the course of an hour, I managed to learn a lot about his complicated life. Somewhere along the line my hand found its way around Sora's back, and I started rubbing his back in a way I hoped was comforting.

_And I'm not sure what's up with Riku. _

"…_which is why, as an apology, I was thinkin'…um…are you doing anything this weekend?_"

_I mean, I think I was almost asked out. Right?_

_As if. Like that could ever happen._

* * *

**Chapter 12: Family Drama**

Like every Tuesday morning, we began with SexEd.

I was once again sitting next to Riku, which I thought was the Fates trying to kill me, or something. _What have I done to deserve this, huh? HUUHH? Okay, so maybe I did steal about ten munny from the Swear Jar last month to buy those really cute shoes. But that doesn't mean you have the right to punish me like this! I swear I'll be good for the rest of my life if—_

"You okay?"

I jumped at his voice. He was looking down at me, a silver eyebrow raised. I couldn't really read his expression. "Y-Yeh I'm…great." I smiled for extra measure. He gave me a smile in return, just as Reno walked into the room.

"Reno is in the building!" He flounced into the classroom and deposited his laptop on his desk. In his other hand was a bin bag. "Guess what we're doin' today, yo?"

And then he dropped the bin bag with a thump, and out of the open bag tumbled…

…_babies_.

"'NURTURING'. Or, as I like to say, 'How to handle the Poop-machine.'"

Most of the guys laughed, but Riku just rolled his eyes. Looking at him, I realized that we were probably going to have to pair up to do the assignment. I saw some girls from the cheer team heading over to some of the guys in the Blitz team, but then Reno stopped them. "Wait a minute! I'm making the couples here, yo!"

Everyone started murmuring as Reno started pinpointing everyone out. Yuna was paired with Tidus, Lenne was paired with a random Blitzball dude, and Rikku was paired with Zidane. For some reason, Reno managed to pair the whole class before he managed to pair me, Sora, Riku, Namine, Roxas, and Fang.

_Please let me not be paired with Riku. Please not me not be paired with Riku._, I repeated over and over again in my mind. Not that I would have minded having Riku's baby or anything (haha, fat chance), but…things were just too awkward between us.

"Hmm…" Reno scratched his invisible beard. "I got it! Riku, you go with Fang; Namine goes with Sora, and Kairi goes with Roxas."

_Hell no._

"Wh-what?" I exclaimed before I knew what I was doing.

Riku joined in, enthused. "But I can't be paired with _her_?"

The class tittered, while Fang looked slightly upset. _Lmfao_, I thought.

"Yeah!" Sora agreed. "The teams aren't fair!"

Reno frowned, giving us an irritated glare. "Say one more word and I'll start making gay couples."

Unsurprisingly, Riku and Sora immediately shut up.

Reno told everyone to join their partner handed out our 'babies'. Trying to hide the disappointment on my face, I sluggishly took Namine's place next to Roxas.

The air around Roxas felt eerily cold, and I shivered unintentionally. Roxas gave me a bored glance. He was etching a design on his desk with his compass.

Okay, so I have to admit: Roxas scared me. I mean, he was Sora's twin and all…but Sora was just different. Everything about Sora glowed when he was happy; his eyes, his smile…

Roxas was just…dark. And angsty. And emo.

He freaked me out.

But, I couldn't let half my SexEd grade slip away just because I was scared of some emo case. "Hey. Um…guess we're together, huh?" Roxas didn't even look at me. "O…kay. Uh…what's your name?" I already knew that, but I just needed to make conversation.

He gave me a noncommittal glance. "Roxas. Roxas Kyumuke."

"Oh. Hey, Roxas. I'm Kairi."

"Yeh. I know that," he muttered bluntly, digging his compass harder into the wooden desk. It was making an irritating grating sound, which unnerved me.

I didn't bother making any more conversation after that. Thankfully, Reno came over with our baby. It had blue eyes and red hair. _What the hell?_

"Wow, um…" I didn't really know what to say. I looked sideways and saw Roxas' gaze on me. I couldn't really read his expression, but my cheeks felt warm.

Thankfully, the bell rang, and I stuffed our new baby in my bag. I saw Fang openly flirting with Riku and felt a hint of jealousy, but shrugged that off and went to meet Sora.

Namine scurried away as soon as I arrived at their table. Sora was with his baby—a doll with black hair and amber eyes. "Guess it's just you and me, Vanilla…"

I crossed my arms over my chest, bemused. "Already given her a name, huh?" He looked up at me when I spoke, surprised.

He grinned. "That was part of the assignment, right?"

I shrugged, and then I was suddenly hit with a familiar scent. I looked sideways and saw Riku, pouting sourly.

"I can't believe this counts as fifty percent of our whole SexEd grade!" He grumbled, struggling to stuff his baby roughly in his backpack.

"What did you name yours?" I asked for the sake of it.

"Baby," He replied bluntly. "What's the point? Not like it matters."

He looked so ridiculously cute that I started giggling stupidly. Sora smirked and asked: "Didn't you do this last year?"

Weirdly enough, Riku didn't plain ignore him or anything, like I thought he would. "Uh-huh."

"He lost the fifty percent cause he 'accidentally' lost Baby in the garbage." Tidus chuckled, rolling his eyes as he appeared next to Riku. Riku growled childishly, and tackled Tidus to the ground as he started laughing at him. I couldn't help but laugh to, and at that moment I was thinking that maybe, just maybe…we could all be friends.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

In Drama, we were going over the choreography for the Alliance scene. The Alliance consisted of Wakka, Hope, Balthier, Tidus, Yuna, Shuyin, Roxas, Snow, Zidane, Sazh, Demyx, and a two of the Blitzballers i.e. twelve guys and one girl.

"That's sexist," Yuna snapped bitterly as soon as he'd done giving out the roles. Yuna was apparently Number Twelve (he hadn't bothered with the names yet), and the only girl in the group.

Sephiroth gave her an offhand glance. "I don't care. It's in the script. Can't question it."

I had never played Kingdom Hearts, but I had a feeling half of it was invented.

He spotted Fang, who was flicking her hair in a way she must have thought was attractive, flirting with the Blitzballers 'to make Riku jealous', Rikku had informed me beforehand. I glanced at Riku, and he didn't look at all jealous. Heck—he wasn't even looking.

Haha. Anyway.

Sephiroth called out Fang, and informed the Drama class that she'd earned the new role of Maleficent, the play's main female antagonist. She didn't really mind until she saw the picture of 'Maleficent'.

"What?" She shrieked. "I can't be that…that THING!"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "Well I don't care. You're Maleficent and that's final. She's vital to the plot; without her, Riku wouldn't be going anywhere."

"What?" Fang asked, looking slightly intrigued as soon as she heard the word 'Riku' in the sentence.

Sephy raised an eyebrow. "You're Riku's mentor, in a way. You're responsible for his conversion to the darkness. That's the whole purpose of _Act Four, Scene Two_, idiot."

Fang didn't seem to mind that Sephiroth had called her an idiot. She was smiling triumphantly. She gave Riku a flirtatious wave, and I noticed Riku frown.

The Alliance began practicing the choreography to their opening scene, with the song 'Uprising' by Muse. While they were practicing, I heard Sephiroth talking to some guy about flavored smoke.

I was generally a bit bored for most of the period. I noticed Tidus staring at Yuna for the whole practice session, which I found a bit creepy. I asked Rikku about it.

"What's with Tidus? He's been eye-humping Yuna for the past half hour."

Rikku giggled, shaking her head. "I know right? It's so obvious he has a crazy crush on her."

My eyes widened; I hadn't noticed. I felt pretty stupid. "Does…does Yuna know?"

"Nope," Lenne put in helpfully. "She doesn't know. Everyone knows except Yuna."

"You think we should tell her?" I asked dubiously.

Lenne rolled her eyes. "I was thinking that too…but Tidus begged us not to."

"Why?" I asked.

Rikku smiled. "I dunno. Doesn't have the balls to ask her out, I guess."

"It's not healthy to have a crush on someone since middle school and not do anything about it," Lenne put in. "I mean, look at me and Shuyin. We've been dating since I was twelve."

I thought that was a little weird, but I didn't voice out my thoughts. Luckily, Yuna came over just in time. "KILL. ME. NOW." She was panting, and she looked pretty exhausted.

"Naw, we love you too much, hun," Rikku crooned, kissing Yuna on the cheek playfully.

"Ugh, whatever. I don't need you guys. I think I'm gonna have to commit suicide before _he_ kills _me_." Yuna started packing up her stuff.

"Aw come on, the choreography isn't that bad," Lenne retorted. "At least you've got a part with Tidus."

Yuna froze. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"You said something."

"No I didn't."

"I swear I heard you—"

"WILL YOU JUST QUIT IT?"

Everyone turned to the origin of the voice—Riku. Sora was standing next to him, mouth half-open, as if he was about to say something.

"Yes, Riku?" Sephiroth grumbled ominously. "Something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

Riku sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Nope."

Sephiroth frowned. "Something you don't like about this play?"

Riku stared at Sephy skeptically. "I never said—"

"You and Sora are going stay here after class and practice the Beach scene," Sephiroth snapped. "It has to be perfect for tomorrow. Or else."

Riku tried to object, but the bell rang and we all started heading out of the class. I made a big show of packing up so that Riku and Sora would notice me, and then I gave them a wave and a sympathetic smile. Sora beamed and Riku smiled coyly, and I felt myself grinning back.

"Come on, Kai, we're gonna be late for class!"

I nodded and hurried after them.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We were on the way to Physics class when Yuna suddenly spoke up. "So, Kairi, we've been thinking."

"About what?" I asked.

"About, you know, your being on the Songstresses."

My heart skipped a beat. "And?"

"Well…we've decided to let you on the team."

I immediately broke out grinning, and was about to hug them when I thought better of it.

I was in a really good mood in Physics, which was saying something since I didn't really like Physics as a subject that much. As soon as Sora sat down next to me, I was so happy that I gave him a huge bear hug. I don't know why; for some reason it didn't feel awkward.

Sora smiled amusedly. "Someone's in a good mood. What's up?"

It was hard to stifle a squeal. "I'm in the Songstresses!"

"That…that's great, Kairi!" He grinned, his face lighting up.

"Yeh, well, Yuna and Lenne were debating over whether to let me in or not…and, well, today they decided!" I explained as I handed him my notebook to copy down the lesson. "Sorry, Sora, but I'm gonna have to skip Drama Practice today to practice for the Regionals."

He shrugged dismissively. "S'okay."

"It's in two weeks—can you believe it?" I giggled, taking over the conversation. "I'm so excited! You have no idea how much this means to me! I've always wanted to be in a singing competition, but it wasn't really possible in my old school…it's so AWESOME! It's gonna be SO fun! Okay, so sometimes I get stage fright, but you know what? I don't care, because this is gonna be the biggest ever thing in my whole—"

"Uh, Kairi?" I span around on my seat and looked up to see Riku looming over me. He looked like some kind of Greek god or something with the incandescent lights glowing behind his head.

"Huh?" I mumbled dumbly.

"We're lab partners, remember?" Riku gave me a reticent smile. "And, uh, we gotta do the microscope thing…"

I blinked at him, and then I remembered. "Oh! Oh yeh okay."

I went to sit on our usual table, and we got to work on our lab assignment. I chose to do the written work and let Riku do the microscope. He seemed to be struggling to get it right, and after trying as hard as possible to ignore how much he was failing, I eventually couldn't take it anymore. "You're getting it all wrong."

He looked up at me, looking slightly peeved. "What?"

"You have to do it like this…" I took his hands on impulse and made him turn the lever in the opposite direction. After checking that the focus was correct, I let go and nodded. "All done."

I felt Riku's eyes on me and when I looked back at him he was staring at me with an unreadable expression. I wasn't sure why, but it made me feel uncomfortable and awkward. "Is…is there something wrong?"

Riku didn't answer, but thankfully Rinoa came to end the awkward moment. "You guys done?"

"Yup," I replied, since Riku didn't seem to be functioning at the moment. Rinoa smiled and checked our microscope focus before looking at the written report I'd done (I knew everything already anyway).

"Excellent," she grinned, giving us an A+. I beamed and unconsciously looked over at Sora, who looked utterly and indisputably lost.

_What is it with guys and microscopes?_

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Our choreography for Sectionals took three hours to produce. It primarily involved hip-shaking, butt waggling and all round 'sexy dancing', and by the time we were done I felt like a whore.

Especially since it involved Zidane, Hope and Denzel feeling me up.

Anyway, when I got home, Namine was there again. Mum wasn't around, and I wondered how she'd got in.

"Where's Mom?" I asked, discarding my bookbag on the sofa (being as gentle as possible; it still had out Test Baby inside). Namine was sitting on the carpet, staring blankly at the screen. "Namine?"

She snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in and looked up at me. "Huh?"

"Where's Mom?" I frowned.

Namine's voice was fragile and quiet. "Oh…she went out. Shopping."

I nodded, looking at the TV screen. She was watching the documentary about Chris Brown and Rihanna's relationship. "Seriously? I thought people would be over that by now."

Namine didn't speak.

"Um…okay. So…how was school? You weren't there in Drama," I probed.

Namine still didn't reply, and I decided not to pry and instead changed subject. "So…how're things with your boyfriend goin'?"

She froze. "Okay. Everything's fine."

There was something in her voice that made me doubt what she said. "You sure?"

She nodded briskly, gripping onto the hem of her skirt. I noticed her bruised knee, which was still bandaged, and sighed. "Namine…if there's anything you want to tell me…I just want you to know that I'll always be here to listen. Okay?"

She nodded unconvincingly, and, after searching her face one more time, I sighed and gave up.

Namine was my half-sister, and we used to be best-friends before we were separated.

So…why was it so hard to get to her?

* * *

**End of chappie 12! :)**

**Thanks for ur critique, and such! **

**As for those of you who were expecting Roxiri **_**en masse**_**…well, nope. It's just a little something. Namixas is the real pairing.**

**Guess what, people? I'm pretty sure I've epically failed my mock! How cool is that, huh? **

**I hate you guys. It's all your stupid fault that I can't stop updating.**

**(Naw, just kidding. LUFF U.)**

* * *

_**Sneek peek:**_

"_Who's the new hottie?"_

"_Rokunami?"_

"_Don't you think this is a little too…I don't know…sexy?"_

"_I'm waiting for that special someone."_

* * *

**Haha, well if y'all have read Addicted…meh. I dunno. **

**Next in line is Apologize, and I'm thinking most of you'd want to know what's going on in Riku's head after reading this.**

**R&R! **

**XXXXXX**


	13. Special Someone

**A/N: I have returned! OHOHOH—AND OSAMA BIN LADEN'S BEEN EXTERMINATED! WOOT!**

…**am I the only person who's remotely happy about this? I know it's totally against the Bible to rejoice when someone's been killed, but I think it's pretty clear he's God's enemy, and, apart from that, HE EFFING GAVE ME NIGHTMARES DUDE. I have to be happy THAT'S over. But i guess this means bye-bye America. Now i'm pretty freaked out on moving there. **

**I'm gonna ignore the fact that I'm supposed to be doing homework and reply to your reviews.**

**Rayne Destiny: Sure, if u want to. I mean, I'm even getting confused, and I'm the author. :P Angel's your favorite? Well that's new. Probably because a lot of people hate Kairi. And I hate Kairi-bashing fics, and can't write them anyway. Have you read 'The Horribly Bloody Death of Kairi'? It is, indeed, HORRIBLE. **

**Morgead'sgirl: Haha lol. Riku on the Songstresses. Priceless. Anyway…she'll find out the effect she'll have on the guys in this chappie, of course. Hehehe…**

**Q-A the Authoress: Poor you. Well, I guess you get how Kairi feels working with Riku. And thanks for reviewing! **

**Toni Heart: Haha lol. You've gotta ignite the light and let it shine! Just own the night like the Fourth—GAH. MUST STOP WITH KATE PERRY REFERENCE. Anyway, let your inner fangirl show herself! And I think you imagine the main characs singing 'Loser Like Me' because they all have retarded, messed-up lives and are all losers in a way. But I can't imagine Roxas singing as Puck, for example. Or Namine being Rachel, or Quinn. *barfs* Lol.**

**Superpeanutbutter: -insert cyberhuggle emote here- Thanks! I thought I needed to do the other two POVs because it would explain A LOT of things later on in the story. Which you'll see, around chappie thirty, or something. xD And we all know Sora pwns the other two, but they need their time to shine aswell. **

**Draco Oblivion: Well…just cause it's Kairi/Sora doesn't necessarily mean Riku's gonna lose…yet. GAH. SPOILER. And Roxas is a bit of an emo-freakazoid, but he'll get better. The choreography is basically a bunch of badass walking and stuff, but, trust me, if you've been in a school musical play, you'd know that the choreography almost always involves some kind of impossible hop-skip-jump move that usually debilitates at least one of the people on the cast before the big day. And I don't particularly like Chris Brown…he's ugly. I only like one song, which will appear later on in the story. And even though I've failed my mock, that's not gonna stop me from writing/reading fanfics! MUAHAHAHA! **

**Jellybean2799: Haha u love RiKai? I actually prefer SoKai…even though I might give up on SoKai if KHIII doesn't come out soon and if Sora doesn't propose to Kairi. And as for the kissing-in-the-rain idea…I'll think about it. And the babies are already electric/camera-infused xD. And, like most people, you prefer the boys side to Kai's side. But that's perfectly normal, so no worries. **

**Gxmwp: Haha! I'll be sure to let her know! Don't worry, Yuna will become less bitchy later on. ^^**

**ThatKidWhoSkate aka Skateboard: Aw, poor you. There's this guy in my class who is taking two weeks off the beginning of the Summer term (not caring if it's against the law) to go skating. He's actually a badass skater/scooter-er (dunno if thts a word), and he's always hanging around the train station near Paris and skating and all that. Is it really that fun? Anyway, even though you're a new reviewer, I immediately like you since you know how to skate, like my fave KH charac, Roxas. Anyway, I know there wasn't much Drama, but there should be in this one. I think. **

**XSolXSkyX: Haha, don't worry, I'm cheered up. ^^ It's just that, thanks to my religion plus other stuff tht suck, I get a lot of haters in my life. But whatever, doesn't really matter. Anyway, HAHAHA! Another RiKai hater! Well there's gonna be a lotta RiKai-ness before the SoKai…so sorry. I bet I'll lose a lot of reviewers like that…but it's for the sake of the plot. I didn't even like RiKai before I started writing this…and Tidus sucks. Nuff said. But he's the best 'friend' Riku has at least. Reno…well. A bit of a Vanitas-like person. xD And Kairi's trying, at least. Hope…poor Hope. I don't think he liked feeling up Kairi that much either. Guess he was too scared to disobey Yuna xD. Thanks for your review! XXX **

**Kairi-Namine-chan: Glad u liked it! And…well, there won't really be much Namixas, but it'll be hinted. ^^**

**Disclaimer: If I ever find myself owning KH between now and when I die, I'll let you know.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Guess what we're doing in SexEd?_

"'NURTURING'. Or, as I like to say, 'How to handle the Poop-machine.'"

_And guess who I'm paired up with?_

"Roxas. Roxas Kyumuke."

_Apart from that horrible, terrifying fact, my day's going quite okay, actually. I find out something about Yuna…_

"What's with Tidus? He's been eye-humping Yuna for the past half hour."

Rikku giggled, shaking her head. "I know right? It's so obvious he has a crazy crush on her."

_~And I'm finally let on the Songstresses—for real! _

"Well…we've decided to let you on the team."

_Okay, so Riku has some issues with microscopes…_

He seemed to be struggling to get it right, and after trying as hard as possible to ignore how much he was failing, I eventually couldn't take it anymore. "You're getting it all wrong. You have to do it like this…"

…_but I managed to get somewhere with Namine._

"Namine…if there's anything you want to tell me…I just want you to know that I'll always be here to listen. Okay?"

_Um…well, not really. Which is sort of annoying, since we used to be best friends before we separated. _

_But oh well. I've got Sora now, right?_

_Namine'll eventually come through…right?_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Special Someone**

After that, things started passing quite quickly.

Everything became a routine. My morning were spent in school, my afternoons spent practicing for Sectionals and my evenings with Sora at Drama Practice. Evenings were my best part of the day; I always felt at ease with Sora, and felt like I could let loose. We never ran out of things to talk about, and he never ceased to make me laugh.

I managed to get to know more about my friends, stuff I didn't know earlier, like how Tidus scratched his hair whenever he was talking to Yuna, how Shuyin wore a different color of underwear of each color of the rainbow for each day of the week (which was visible because his trousers were pretty loose), and how Riku put his hands in his pockets whenever he was nervous and played with his hair when he was thinking.

But, of course, I got to know the most new things about Sora.

Like how he was incredibly ticklish, especially on his sides. And how he had a birthmark behind his left ear, how he always threw his arms behind his head in his trademark posture, how his nostrils flared when he lied, how he seemed to be constantly skipping. (Well, around me at least.) Apart from these completely trivial things, I learnt lots of other stuff.

Sora was extraordinarily good at Creative Writing. Our Drama Practice sessions varied in content in length, and sometimes all we did was exchange homework, and other times all we did was gossip, talk, or sing. I'd do his Math and English Literature, and he'd do my Creative Writing. Sora was amazingly creative. Ideas seemed to spring out of anywhere, and he had an unlimited imagination. He could make up characters on the spot, invent foreign places, dream of new sights. And he'd speak about it with such relish that you'd almost start to believe what he's talking about is real.

Sora was funny, childish and slightly girly, but that's what made him special. Sometimes he was funny without meaning to be. Sometimes he'd say something random and I'd burst into a fit of giggles. He wasn't ashamed that he liked Disney. Well, Disney 'before it turned into all the retarded high school crap it is today'. He even made me promise to watch Tangled with him when it came out in the cinema. He'd told me he'd show me the Disney animated-feature collection he had in his house in the future. And, even though he detested High School Musical with a passion, he somehow knew the lyrics to all the corny songs—and he even sang it better than the original. He told me he watched Desperate Housewives. He knew more about singing than I did.

Sora was peculiar yet unique—my best friend. He was nothing like Yuna, Lenne, Rikku or anyone else in the group, even he was a guy. But for some reason I told him more than I ever told anyone. I felt I could tell Sora anything.

(Well, almost anything at least.)

* * *

Now, Riku was a whole different story.

After nearly a month in my new school, it was inevitable that I had developed some kind of massive crush on him. The only reason I hadn't told this to Sora yet was because I was too ashamed, and, for some reason, I was pretty scared of what Sora would think.

I'd become hooked to Riku's smell, for some inexplicable reason. It was different from Sora's homey smell; it was minty and deep and mysterious and it drove me nuts. It was hard to concentrate whenever Riku was around, with his stunning looks and winning smile and chiseled cheekbones and—GAH.

For example, I was a complete failure at History. And, unsurprisingly, I just _had_ to be sitting next to Riku and all his godly godliness. And I just about died whenever he was explaining something to me and his knees brushed against mine, or when he rolled his eyes at me, or when he accidentally touched my hand. His smile melted my insides, and I began fearing that I'd become like one of those sad loser girls I had in my French class who scrawled '_Mlle Harada_' and '_Je suis mariée à Riku Harada_' all over the front of their notebooks.

I swore I was never gonna become like that over a guy.

No matter how tremendously hot he was.

Nevertheless, I still managed to hold decent conversations long enough with him to find out quite a bit about him. Not as much as I knew about Sora, but well. Just a few stuff, like a bit about his family (he had three older brothers—TRIPLETS! How freaky is that?) and a little bit about trivial stuff (his favorite food is smoked salmon, he thinks pie pawns cake, and he has a fear of prostitutes and guns).

I also noticed how he always seemed absentminded, frequently setting off into little daydreaming sessions. I noticed how he looked a bit miffed whenever his friends unquestionably obeyed him and dropped the subject whenever they thought it was necessary. I noticed how he put on a fake smile in front of his friends, how he joked and bullied pointlessly just to make them leave him alone.

For some reason I kept remembering what Riku said at Shuyin's birthday.

"_Sometimes I feel like everything I do is a stupid charade. Most of my friends are my friends because of how I act around them. That _isn't _me, but…"_

It seemed so faraway, but I finally realized what he meant.

No one seemed to notice that behind that hard, flawless exterior…Riku was lonely.

And for some reason…I had this pressing urge to change that.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

As the day approached, I started to dread Sectionals more and more.

Especially on that Friday afternoon when I was heading for the bus park and Riku said: "See you later."

At first I didn't get it. "What?"

"Uh…at Sectionals, I mean. I'll be rooting for you." He paused. "We'll all be rooting for you, I-I mean."

I must have said goodbye or something, because he smiled before climbing into his car and zooming off.

I hadn't quite registered this information when Sora bounced up to me with his trademark smile plastered on his face. "I'll try not to be late, 'kay?"

And then he hugged me, gave me a smile and skipped off to his bus.

* * *

It was only when I'd taken the bus home, gone upstairs to my bedroom and locked the door behind me when it all finally registered.

I screamed.

* * *

I resisted the urge to jump out the window and kill myself. I couldn't do that, especially since, according to Rikku, I was 'essential' to the team.

So instead I took a shower (using my lucky cinnamon soap), conditioned my hair and headed over to Lenne's house for our 'total makeover'.

The rest of the crew were already there—even the guys, though they were in a separate room. Lenne's house was a bit like Shuyin's. You could see the beach through her bedroom window.

I was admiring the scenery when Yuna announced: "Okay. We have two hours to get dressed, do our make-up, do our hair, do a final rehearsal and get to the auditorium, so let's bounce."

Two hours went by quickly—a bit _too_ quickly for my liking. Selphie was amazingly good with make-up, and my face felt like it'd been coated with plaster by the time she exclaimed "All done!"

When she handed me the mirror, I could hardly recognize the girl looking back at me. Since when did I have perfect eyelashes? And since when did my nose not look like it was about to swallow someone? Since when was my face spotless?

"~Awww KAIRIIIII!" Selphie giggled, clapping her hands. "You look so PRETTYYYYYY!"

"Uh, thanks?" I giggled in reply. Selphie's happiness was kinda contagious.

And then it was time for my outfit. As soon as I saw it, all the blood drained from my face.

First of all, there was the sleeveless army-print hoodie, which, apparently, was the only thing I was going to be wearing over my bra, which was also selected for me (a camouflage push-up bra). And then there were the denim shorts, which couldn't have been longer than my palm. The only thing that was remotely okay about the outfit was the army-print Converse sneakers. I started wondering how much they cost.

And then the realistic side of my brain kicked in, and my jaw dropped. "_What_?"

Yuna, Lenne and the rest of the group turned to look at me. Yuna frowned, brushing her perfect brown hair. "What? What's wrong?"

"…uh…don't you think this is a little too…I don't know…sexy?" I picked up the hoodie with a grimace.

"There's no such thing as 'too sexy'," Yuna replied simply, inspecting her lipstick in the mirror. "They want sexy, they get sexy."

I was about to retort to this when I realized it was futile and dropped the idea, sighing before getting into my whore outfit.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We were both in the bathroom when I decided to pop the question. (And I don't mean I asked her to marry me. *shudder*)

"So…Yuna?" I asked as I pulled on several bangles and wristbands that Vanille—the fashion pro—had ordered me to wear. "How's your love life goin?"

She froze in the middle of applying lipstick (because she insisted on doing everything that had to do with her face herself). "It's…going fine."

"You…like anyone?" I probed, trying to sound nonchalant. "Anyone in particular."

I didn't think she was going to reply, but she did. "…yes."

_Bingo_. "Is he…in our class? In our school? Do we see him every—"

"Look, Kairi." She muttered. "I have no idea who he is. But I know I like him."

I had no idea what she was talking about. "Huh?"

"I'm waiting for that special someone," she sighed. "You know…my soulmate. I know there's someone out there that's…that's meant for me."

_That did not at all sound cheesy_. "Um?"

She kept her eyes trained on the mirror as she leaned forward on the sink. "When…when Riku and I went out…"

I didn't like where this was going, but decided to keep quiet.

"…did I ever tell you why we broke up?"

I shook my head, trying to seem interested, when, in fact, I was totally not interested in her and Riku's relationship. In fact, I didn't even care that she and Riku were ever an item in the first place. It didn't bother me one bit that Riku went out with the spawn of Aphrodite herself and yet dumped her, which pretty much meant I stood pretty much no chance whatsoever. Not one bit.

"Well…" she sighed. "He said that I already had an admirer, and that that person was the guy I was meant to be with."

Whoa. I was not expecting that.

Then I realized that Riku must have told her that because he knew about how Tidus was crushing on Yuna, and felt myself smile. I took Yuna's free hand and squeezed in affectionately, throwing in a smile for the sake of it. "Don't worry. You'll find him. Trust me."

And all the while I heard a voice screaming inside my head. _But what about me? What about MY 'special someone'?_

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Apparently Yuna had lied to us to make us hurry up more. The Sectionals didn't start until seven, and we had a lot of free time backstage.

Yuna and Lenne were busy discussing something 'private', so I decided to go and talk with some of the others in the team. I spotted Olette, who was sitting down on one of the benches, looking lost in thought.

Smiling, I sat down next to her. "Hey. Mind if I join you?"

She blinked, as if she'd just realized I was there, and shook her head, smiling. "It's fine."

I smiled again, and started absently playing with my hair. It had been curled professionally by Serah, who was amazing with hair. She'd also put a large amount of hair product in it, so I wasn't tempted to put it in my mouth.

It'd only been two weeks, but I'd already gotten pretty close to everyone in the group (apart from Yuna and Lenne, who I already saw everyday). Selphie, with her adorable hyperactive-ness and happy-go-lucky Sora-ness. Olette, with her silent beauty and studiousness—the girl who was always writing, whether it was for the school newspaper or just a random story. Vanille, Selphie's incarnate twin. Serah, the girl who always had a hairbrush. Marlene and Denzel, the kids with attitude. Zidane, the flirty drum guru with the ego. Hope, the shy innocent 'good guy' who, buy the looks of it, was obsessed with Vanille. Pence, the chubby dude who lived on two things: his camera and his supply of food. And Paine…well. She was pretty hard to get used to, but I soon pushed that thought away and tried to ignore the fact that she looked like an emo-hooker.

We all generally got along, and in the Music Room I felt almost as secure as I did when I was sitting at the cool table in the cafeteria.

Selphie and Vanille suddenly broke into a fit of giggles, and I raised my eyebrows expectantly. They seemed to notice, and bustled over to me. They were equally dressed as prezzies, but I had a feeling they looked a lot less whorish than me.

"What's up?" I asked, looking up at them.

They sat down in front of us, legs crossed. "Well…" Selphie began. "You know the really cute guy from Drama?"

"Yeh…?" I felt myself smirk as I realized she was talking about Roxas.

It was amazing how Roxas went from 'The Weird Goth Kid Who Hangs In The Bike Park After School' to 'The Hot Sexy Mess Who's Bedheadedness Is Too Luscious For Words' (courtesy the girls' bathroom). He turned up in Drama one Thursday _sans_ make-up, _sans_ piercings and _sans _jewelry, simply muttering "Sorry I'm late". It was amazing how everyone was suddenly all wide-eyed and whispering, and I even heard Lenne ask "Who's the new hottie?".

The girls were all over him, and a lots of them tried to ask him out. He never said anything though—just glared coldly and acted like he hadn't heard them. What was weird was that he almost always hung out with Namine. They became, like, inseparable. He was always with Namine whenever she was present, and when she wasn't he found someone else to hang with to avoid his growing fanclub.

He seemed to only have a smile for Namine. Well, something that seemed like a smile at least. He never smiled at me and we were partners in the SexEd project.

"Roxas, huh? What about him?"

"~Well," Selphie sang, giggling. "Don't you think he's been hanging around with that blonde weirdo a lot lately?"

I was about to yell at her for badmouthing my sister when I remembered I hadn't told them we were related yet. "Um…I don't know."

Vanille giggled. "I don't know about you, but I think RokuNami is totally cute!"

"Rokunami?" I asked, confused. "What's Roku—"

We were interrupted when the lights backstage suddenly dimmed and a very familiar voice spoke up.

"Hello, I'm Stella, and welcome, everyone, one to the seventeenth annual glee club Sectionals!"

"Stella?" I asked, surprised.

Yuna sighed. "She's won the Finals in her school glee club in Radiant Garden a year ago, and she somehow ended up as the presenter here."

I decided not to ask any more questions, and just settled on the fact that I didn't know many, many things.

"As you all know, the three glee clubs will compete to dazzle the judges, who will then proceed to choose who will be moving onto the next round!"

My heart started thumping as I saw the first group come up to us. They were all dressed in bandit outfits, which looked not at all professional. Yet something about the leaders gaze told me they were not to be underestimated.

Olette, who had turned out the conversation some time ago, whispered: "That's _AVALANCHE_."

"What?"

"Who's this?" I heard someone tease and pull me up by the arm, and before I knew it I was standing in front of the fiercest-yet-stunning girl I'd ever seen. She had long ginger hair that was pulled back through her tie-dyed bandana, and her eyes were a startling green.

I mean, she nearly beat Yuna in looks, which was saying something.

"Newbie, huh?" Pretty Ginger scoffed. "Nice. What's your name?"

"I'm—" I started, but Lenne cut me off.

"Leave her alone, Shalua," she snapped, shoving Pretty Ginger's arm off me.

"What?" Shalua's voice was slimy. "I'm just trying to get to know her…"

"You'll be able to 'get to know her' better on stage," Yuna retorted calmly, and just on time we heard Stella yell '…give it up for AVALANCHE!'. "Guess that's your cue."

Shalua glare looked harsh enough to burn, but thankfully she turned around and headed towards the stage, standing in their positions as the curtains opened.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

_AVALANCHE _was good. _Very_ good.

I voiced my thoughts out to Yuna when Shalua and the rest of _AVALANCHE _had bustled past, but all she did was smirk and say: "Oh, but we're better."

I still felt uneasy, especially when I glimpsed lots of other familiar faces in the audience.

My heart started pounding harder as I realized something. Riku, Sora and all the other guys were going to see me _sexy dancing_. _Sexy. Dancing._ Which I was pretty sure I didn't know how to do.

What would everyone think of me after I went out like a hooker? What would…what would _Sora _think of me?

I mean, he knew about the Sectionals and all, but I'd never really told him the songlist. For some reason I felt too embarrassed to tell him, even if we were best friends. But…there was a barrier. Even if we did tell each other practically everything.

(Well, almost everything.)

Anyway, as we were waiting for the next group (who, according to Pence, was _Playing With Fate_) to finish their songs (which consisted of two poorly chosen Taylor Swift songs and a Ke$ha addition), my palms started feeling sweaty and I started feeling even more uncomfortable in my whorish get-up. I was very tempted to start biting my nails, until I realized they'd been painted expertly by Marlene.

The bubbly freshmen finished their ballads, skipping off stage in their ruffled dresses and apparently thinking they would actually win. Actually, at that time I wasn't thinking straight and actually felt intimidated by then.

Which was why, when Yuna announced it was our turn, my stomach did a 360° somersault. I suddenly felt sick.

Serah must have noticed. "You okay?"

I shook my head. "I…I c-can't do this—"

"No. WAY." Yuna snapped. "There is NO WAY you are giving up here. Since when did you ever have stage fright?"

My throat felt tight all of a sudden. "I-I d-don't know—"

"I knew I should never have let you in our group—"

"Yuna!" Lenne reprimanded. "Shut _up_."

Yuna did indeed shut up, but not before giving me a glare. "Fine. We don't need _her_." She huffed and turned on her heels, gesturing for the others to follow her to their places.

My eyes felt hot, and I was afraid I was going to start crying and mess up all Selphie's hard work.

"Kairi. Kairi look at me."

I managed to hold myself together long enough to look Lenne straight in the eye and not break down crying. Lenne looked half frustrated and half empathetic. "Look, Kairi…I know this is pretty hard for you, you know, being your first time and all. But…as much as Yuna hates to admit it…we _need _you to do this. _AVALANCHE_, for the first time in three years, actually _scared_ Yuna."

I was surprised. "R-Really?" She didn't look like it…

"Yeh. She's pretty good at hiding her feelings, but if you've been friends with her for as long as I have, you'd know." She smiled. "And she's right. Without your amazing voice, we don't know if we have what it takes to beat them. Yuna and I, we're great, but you…you're _amazing_."

The compliments were starting to get to me, and I felt myself smiling. "Th-thanks."

I still felt slightly uneasy, though, but that soon changed. "And what about Riku? You think he'd be happy if you didn't show up? And…what about Sora?"

For some reason, as soon as she said that, the uneasy feeling went away. I remembered Sora smiling at me and sticking with me through all our practice session, and I realized I couldn't just…not show up.

And I also realized that maybe, just maybe…Riku might _like_ what he sees.

Feeling whorish thoughts creeping up into my mind, I nodded enthusiastically and ran to take my place. Lenne grinned, kissed me affably on the cheek, and took her spot. At first I wasn't sure Yuna noticed me.

And then she spoke up. "So you decided not to be a coward after all."

I grinned, suddenly feeling excited. "Yup. Couldn't miss out on another opportunity to flaunt what I got." _Ugh, that sounded _so_ whorish._

It was silent for a while, and then Yuna chuckled. "You made the right choice, Kairi. Better not try something like that again, or else you'll see what happens when I get _really _pissed off."

I opened my mouth to say something, but then the curtains opened, the lights shut off, and Stella announced: "GIVE IT UP FOR _THE SONGSTRESSES_!"

* * *

**I'm so sorry this came out so late I was caught up with homework and exams and television and moving and—OH WHAT THE HECK I PROCRASTINATED.**

**Procrastination. A cruel, cruel word. **

**Anyway…in the one (or is it two) week(s) of my absence, I managed to watch Lemonade Mouth—the newest Disney original movie—and ten episodes of 'Shake it Up'—the newest Disney series (I think). I'm in a Disney mood, okay? And Lemonade Mouth is by far the best Disney original movie since…since…WHATEVER THERE WAS NEVER ANY BETTER DISNEY CHANNEL MOVIE KYAAAAH! **

**Hahahahaha. And, if any of you people watch 'Shake It Up'…DON'T YOU THINK DEUCE IS ADORABLE? :)**

* * *

**Sneek Peek: **

"_Well, outta all the whores, you looked the best." _

"_So…you and Roxas…what's going on between you two?"_

"…_you know…an Art Project."_

"_Who's Seifer?"_

* * *

**Whoop-whoop! That'll give you something to feed on while you wait for the next update!**

**Well, see you next week (probably), and R&R! **


	14. Between You and Me

**A/N: Omg I love you guys. **

**Review replies! XXXX**

**Superpeanutbutter: You live in America? YAY! And I'm trying as hard as I can not to make Kairi too whorish because that'll just be feeding all those Kairi haters out there. **

**Morgead'sgirl: Thankies for reviewing (yet again), and…well. I guess you'll just have to read the chappie. **

**Roxy mccartney: I know right? I get stage fright so bad that I've never gotten a speaking role in any school play since I was born. I didn't even get in this years' school play; I chose acting auditions instead of singing. I only said two words, 'Yes Boss', before they said 'NEXT'. **

**Skateboard!: Cool! I actually wanted to learn when I found out Sora and Roxas could skate…but yeh. I'm not good with anything with wheels, minus a bicycle of course. Anyway, seeing as you're a guy, I REALLY did not expect Kairi to be your favorite! I guess I've just portrayed her in a likeable manner (i.e. giggly, not-too-whorish, kinda shy, self-conscious, bad past etc.). As for Sora…I tried not to make him TOO girly in this, but I figured that, since he was the youngest Kyumuke, and since his first best friend was a girl, and since his family had issues while he was growing up, he'd end up like…well. What he is. Oh and I LOVE IJAC (It's Just a Crush)! If I wasn't a Namixas fan, I'd totally ship Roxiri! But…yeh. I have a feeling I suck at writing that. And you guessed right—Riku and Kairi will go out. (not saying when tho xD). I'm not gonna rewrite anything you said in the last review, (you know, for the sake of spoilers) but HOW CAN YOU READ MINDS? Is this fic THAT predictable? xD Well, I guess since you know already, you'll be able to see it coming. Well, enjoy the chappie! And I love your extra long reviews btw. ^^ **

**Draco Oblivion: Oh, btw, just before I begin, I'd like to inform you tht I checked your account and tht I found out you're black. SO AM I! We have sth in COMMON! Whaddup BRUDDA? (…uh. Okay, I think I'm gonna stop now, since I sound pretty dumb and weird atm.) Anyway, I wanted Riku to have odd fears, which is where the 'prezzies and guns' thing came in. Yeh well…they'll eventually find out about Namine…or something…but I guess Kairi doesn't want them to find out about Namine yet because she doesn't want her popularity damaged. Makes her sound like a Plastic (Mean Girls reference) or something, but…well. Trying to change her life and all. She and Sora have something in common, kinda. And thanks for acknowledging the importance of the Three Different POVs thing! I was initially gonna do it all in third person, but I write better in 1****st**** Person and I thought I could portray the characters better this way. Thanks anyway, and enjoy the chappie! **

**Toni Heart: YES I WATCH SHAKE IT UP! Since I'm in France, and since everything is French, and since they sound RETARDED in the French dub, and since the episodes are, like, way behind over here, I watch everything on YOUTUBE! That way I get to watch it **_**'en direct'**_**, as we say over here. ^^ I love the show—the acting is so kewl and I LOVE CeCe's hair. xD Anyway, I think Yui's conclusion is pretty accurate. I was thinking the same thing. As revealed in the BBS secret endings, Aqua's locked in the dark-horizon-whatever place, and so I suspect that they're all gonna get freed and everything will be okay. But as for the baby-that-looks-like-Xion…LOL. That's crazy, but that seems like something Nomura would do. I mean, he did make everyone possible look like someone else in the game, so what can you expect? Anyway, enjoy the chappie! **

**Heyya! Good mood…life's being okay, getting baptized soon, grades chugging along fine…**

**And YOU GUYS! Could you possibly GET any awesomer?**

**No? Okay. About the chappie: RiKai development (I bet lots of you are yelling NOOOO!), SoKai friendness, some Roxiri (well, not really; by tht I mean Roxas and Kairi interaction)…yanno the drill. Oh, and also we'll find out something important about Namine! Well, not really but...GUH. Onto the not-so-long-actually-pretty-short-sorry fourteenth chappie. **

**Disclaimer: NOPE NOPE NOPE DON'T SUE.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sora and I are closer than bread and butter. _

Sora was peculiar yet unique—my best friend. He was nothing like Yuna, Lenne, Rikku or anyone else in the group, even he was a guy. But for some reason I told him more than I ever told anyone. I felt I could tell Sora anything.

_Riku…now he's a whole different story._

After nearly a month in my new school, it was inevitable that I had developed some kind of massive crush on him.

_I find out the reason Yuna's still single…_

"I'm waiting for that special someone," she sighed. "You know…my soulmate. I know there's someone out there that's…that's meant for me."

_The Sectionals have arrived! And guess who's there watching? _

"I'll be rooting for you."

"I'll try not to be late, 'kay?"

_Yes. Riku and Sora. And they're gonna see me sexy dancing. _

_Okay, so I asked for popularity, but I never asked for this! _

_What will everyone think of me after they see me dressed like a hooker? What will _Sora _think of me?_

_Guess I'll just have to find out._

* * *

**Chapter 14: Between You and Me**

I can't really explain how I felt up on the stage, dancing and singing and shaking my moneymakers to my heart's content. (Ignore how skanky that sounds.)

I guess I was caught up with the rhythm. You know that feeling you get when you get on stage and sing and everyone's clapping and applauding and you know they're clapping for _you_? No? Well, one day you'll find out and you'll know how I felt like.

Well, time passed, and it started getting _fun_. I wasn't nervous anymore. Everyone was cheering and guys were hooting and girls were laughing and it was exhilarating.

And then it all came to an end as we finished the final song and everyone gave a standing ovation. My mouth hurt from all the unintentional grinning I was doing.

It was an inexplicable feeling, standing up there with people I could actually call my friends, laughing and giggling and feeling like I was on top of the world.

And then I saw Riku in the crowd.

He was staring at me with his unique jade eyes. He wasn't smiling, and neither was he clapping, (unlike Tidus who was applauding enthusiastically next to him). Just…sitting there. Staring.

For some reason my heart plummeted. I couldn't believe I'd just done that. Acted all whorish and all. In front of _Riku_. He must have thought I was one of _those _girls now. I felt pathetic, and I had to break away from his eyes.

Then, almost immediately, I met Sora, who was grinning from ear to ear. He looked like some kind of Cheshire cat, and his eyes were the brilliant blue color they always were when he was happy.

Elated, I waved, and in return he gave me a thumbs-up sign.

I felt my cheeks warm up at his gesture and couldn't help but break out beaming.

"Come on," Lenne took my arm and ushered me off the stage as Stella took her position.

"Now it's time for a little intermission while the judges cast their votes. Don't go anywhere; we'll be back in ten minutes with the results of which school glee club won this year!"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It all felt so surreal.

I couldn't sit still during the whole intermission, and when it was eventually time to announce the winner, I crossed my fingers and started praying profusely to whoever was up there for us to pull through.

He must have heard because we won.

Yuna and Lenne took the more dignified reaction towards our victory, but the rest of us couldn't help but go all full-frontal-Bitchy and cheer and wave the trophy around and go all "IN YOUR FACE BIOTCHES!" Well, at least I did.

(I was lucky my Mum and Dad were working late and weren't able to come to see me sing about sex and dance like a skank.)

I had that tickling feeling of accomplishment in my stomach until way after we packed up our stuff backstage and headed outside. Tidus, Shuyin and the rest were in a little group, talking not too far off. Lenne immediately went to meet up with Shuyin and he greeted her by shoving his tongue down her throat. Yuna and the rest groaned in disgust.

I was the last one out, and I was heading over to the group when I bumped into Riku.

He had his undecipherable trademark look on, his hands in his pockets, looking slightly bored. I glimpsed a pair of blue Beatz around his neck, slightly clouded by his silver hair. I kept my eyes trained on his Adam's apple to avoid letting them get to his lips.

Feeling the atmosphere getting slightly awkward, I tried to sidle right past him and head for the rest of the group. But, as soon as I tried to do so, he sidestepped, blocking my path. I gave him an inquisitive look and tried to move the other way, but he grabbed my arm instead.

I stared up at him, shocked. "…Riku?"

"Um…" He licked his lips, opening and closing his mouth as if thinking about what he was going to say. My eyes fell to his hand that was wrapped around my wrist. It was warm and strangely firm. His nails were cleanly lined, unlike Sora's ragged ones. I inwardly wondered whether he did manicure.

The thought made me laugh inside.

"Well, um, K-Kairi I…" He swallowed, looking me in the eyes. My eyes fell to his chest, meeting with his crease-free Ralph Lauren dress shirt, before looking back up at him. His face was barely inches away from mine now, and I could smell his salty breath. I didn't know what was happening, but I had a feeling that if someone didn't do something NOW that I was gonna do something really stupid that I'd regret for the rest of my life.

"Kairi!" Someone yelled, snapping me out of my trance. Somehow Riku no longer held me hostage and was now standing alone, scowling at the parking lot.

It was Selphie who was calling me. She bounced up to me and took my arm, depositing me a little farther off. Bewildered, I asked: "Why've you…?"

I realized why she'd taken me there when I saw Sora leaning against a fence, picking at a thread in his plaid trousers. I felt myself smile; he was still in his uniform.

He saw me and flashed me a BriteSmile™, and I felt the euphoric feeling bubbling in my chest again.

I ran up to him and, in the spur of the moment, gave him a huge bear hug. "Can you believe it Sora? WE WON!"

"I know."

"WE WON WE WON WE WON WE WON WE **WON**!"

I released him from the hug, beaming. "This is all so amazing!"

He smiled down at me. "_You_ were amazing."

I thought I glimpsed some kind of emotion in his eyes, though I wasn't sure what it was.

And then it disappeared, and he stammered something incoherent.

"You serious?" For some reason his statement made me smile wider. "It was Yuna that said I should put _this _on." I gestured to my Ultimate Prezzie outfit in disgust.

Sora jerked his eyebrows up with a totally non-Sora expression on his face. "Yeh, well…tell her her outfits rock."

"I look like a _whore_."

He winked at me, grinning playboyishly. "Well, outta all the whores, you looked the best."

I just had to punch him in the arm at the utterly sexist comment. I also probably did that to divert his gaze from my tomato-red face.

"Ow!" He whined, massaging his arm. He saw me glowering and looked pretty intimidated. "Um, okay…I'm s-sorry, I didn't m-mean it like _that_—"

It was so cute that I started giggling and forgot I was angry. "Yeh, I know. Just playing with ya." I ruffled his hair fondly. "Thanks, by the way."

He looked like he was about to say something in reply when someone rammed his car into the curb, making a loud screeching noise. I jumped slightly at the noise.

Sora sighed. "Meh. Guess that's my cue to leave."

I nodded, looking off into the car window. A man with black hair very similar to Sora's was sitting at the wheel. He couldn't have been older than twenty-five, but I made a wild guess. "That your Dad?"

Sora shook his head, laughing. "No, not at all. He's my halfbrother."

"Oh." I felt pretty ridiculous. "Um, well…see ya, then!"

I gave him a goodbye hug, and he pulled away much too quickly than I would have preferred before rushing off to the car.

With the warm Sora-aura gone, I started feeling a little chilly. It increased from 'a little' to 'a lot' in barely seconds as a gust of autumn wind blew past. Teeth chattering, I reprimanded myself for not bringing a sweater. I was gingerly rubbing my bare arms when suddenly I heard Riku's deep voice behind me. "You okay?"

I turned around to see him. He looked away as soon as I looked at him, slipping his hands into his pockets. I managed to control my racing heartbeat before I answered. "Yeh I'm fine."

My teeth chose this moment to start clattering.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You look cold."

I shook my head, not wanting to make a fool of myself. "I-I'm not—" My nose started tickling, and I sneezed abruptly, probably looking very nasty doing so.

The edges of Riku's lips tilted upwards in a half-smile and he shook his head. "You didn't bring a sweater?"

I was started to get irritated by his questioning. I was supposed to come out fierce, but I supposed the fact that I couldn't stop stammering didn't help much. "No, as a m-m-matter of fact, I didn't. I was too busy getting ready to go on s-st-stage to think about that—"

Before I knew it, Riku was taking off his jacket and wrapping it around me.

My face must have been redder than my hair. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Trust me—you need it more than I do," he chuckled.

I shivered as his fingers brushed against my neck as he adjusted the collar. Silently, I slipped my arms into the coat, and immediately felt a lot warmer. The jacket was way too big for me; I reminded myself of Namine in her oversized hoodies. I discreetly sniffed it; it had the signature Riku smell.

Then my sense kicked in, and I looked up at Riku with an inquisitive look. "What about you? Won't you be cold now I've got your jacket?"

Riku shook his head dismissively. "I'll be fine. And I don't get colds."

I gave him a look that said 'Yeh right'.

Riku grinned. "I'm serious. I think my immune system totally evolved, yanno, with all the swimming I do."

"Is that even possible?"

He shrugged uncertainly and I laughed. "But it could be true. I can't remember the last time I've called in sick."

"Mmm." I zipped up the coat as another gust of wind blew by. My hair started attacking my face while I cursed Vanille's choice in clothing (I was wearing A BRA for goodness sake!).

"You were…" Riku tossed his hair away from his eyes. "You were great, by the way."

His compliment made me blush, but I hoped he suspected it was the cold. "Thanks."

He scratched his hair and looked like he was thinking of saying something else when his phone rang. Cursing, he took his iPhone out of his pocket and seemed to stiffen up when he saw the caller. "I…I gotta go."

"Um…okay…" I whispered. He gave me a wan smile before turning on his heels and heading to his car.

Sighing, I decided to start heading home myself.

* * *

It was only when Lenne had dropped me off at my house that I realized I still had Riku's jacket.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I don't know if it was because I was sleeping with Riku's coat or some other divine intervention, because I dreamed about Riku that night.

Don't worry; it wasn't some kind of prophetic dream. I wasn't on that stage yet. To make a long story short, the dream involved me (naked), Riku (naked) and bunch of gummi bears (also naked. I mean, what'd you expect? Gummi bears wearing clothes?).

Anyway.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Potato Chips (which is what I named the SexEd baby, by the way) crying and Namine singing. It was a song from one of Mom's old 'The Corrs' CDs: 'Love to Love You'. It brought back memories of when we were younger.

Groaning, I turned over in my bed to cradle Potato Chips to slumber and saw Namine, who, I noticed, was drawing. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun and her sleeves were rolled up. She didn't notice me looking at her, apparently, until I greeted her.

"Mornin'," I yawned, placing a now quiet Potato Chips back in her crib (i.e. my socks drawer).

She looked up at me, slightly alarmed. "Oh…hey, Kairi. I didn't notice you were awake."

I smiled. "I just woke up, actually." I clambered off the bed and headed over to hers. "Whatcha doing?"

"N-Nothing."

"Aw, come on, Namiboo—you know it's pointless to try lying to me!"

"I-It's nothing I'm just—"

I snatched her sketchpad away from her before she could protest, holding it up in triumph. "AH-HAH!"

"Kairi!" She shrieked, horrified, but it was too late.

I opened it, and gasped.

It was an intricate, professional drawing of Sora's twin and my SexEd partner: Roxas. The Roxas in the sketch leaning against a wall of graffiti, brandishing a skateboard and looking into the horizon. His eyes looked neither sad, neither happy, and his lips were set in a frown. She'd even managed to draw his rowdy hairdo and fit in all the little details I never usually noticed.

"Ohmigosh Namine this is amazing!" I squealed cheerily. "You should so submit this to the school—"

Namine snatched it back from me, her cheeks a burning red. "I told you not to look, Kairi."

Her voice was cold and depressing, and for some reason the tone of her voice made me shut up. She took her sketchpad and stuffed it in her backpack before pulling on her sneakers.

"H-Hey—where're you going?"

"Out," Namine replied simply. "It's about time I got going anyway."

Desperately, I followed after her. "You'll come back this evening, right?"

She was quiet for some time, and then she sighed. "Depends what—" She cut herself off, and then continued, as if correcting herself: "…if I want to."

I realized I couldn't do anything much to stop her from going, and let out a sigh. "Okay. See you around, then."

She left the room briskly, not even giving me a wave to say goodbye.

Sighing when I heard the door slam downstairs, I decided to go and have breakfast. It was after I'd brushed my teeth and was heading to the kitchen that I stepped on a a piece of paper.

Picking it up, I realized it must have fallen out of Namine's sketchpad. It was a little crumpled, but as I turned it over I managed to make out the profile of a guy I'd never seen before.

He had chiseled features and a thin scar running across his nose. He was wearing a beanie and he had bushy eyebrows. His lips were set in a warm smile, and he looked pretty handsome in a rebellious sort of way.

Of course, at this time I had no idea who he was, and had to search the paper for any clue to his identity.

And then I found it. On the right bottom corner of the sheet was written a name in italics.

'_Seifer_'.

Confused, I voiced out my thoughts.

"Who's Seifer?"

* * *

I'd heard the name before. But from where?

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Apart from the situation with my half-sister at home, things were going along smoothly. Autumn Term went by a lot quicker than expected, probably because I was having so much fun.

Sora seemed to be a lot happier than usual as time went by. He smiled a lot more, and people started to be a lot less mean to him than they were when I first came. Okay, so they all called him 'Benchie' or 'The Bench Kid', but people rarely used the lame insult of the past anymore. He still wasn't qualified enough to be in 'Our Clique' however. But he'd become the benchwarmer on the Destiny Dolphins, which, I guess, was something.

As for me, I managed to be able to do Sports again, seeing as my ankle had completely healed and I was able to join the Cheer team like lots of the other girls in our group. Okay, so the outfit was, yet again, pretty slutty—but I felt a lot more accomplished once I knew I had a lot more extracurricular activities. We cheered the Destiny Dolphins right through the Blitzball Sectionals, which they won with flying colors.

I also got an A- in the Nurturing course. I'd basically done it alone seeing as Roxas never showed up whenever we scheduled to switch turns. Turns out Reno had installed a video camera inside Potato Chips. (I was horrified when I learnt this because I was pretty sure Potato Chips had been there quite a lot of times when I was undressing.) It was probably because of this that Reno managed to know that Potato Chips didn't see enough of his father (i.e. Roxas), which is why I didn't get an A+.

Roxas came off pretty antisocial around anyone apart from Namine.

I heard from Selphie that they were throwing a Non-Denominational Winter Skating Ball the Sunday after the term ended, to compensate for the lack of school events. Selphie had led a protest against the fact that Principal Yoshida had banned the two holiday's balls (Halloween and Christmas) to respect the people in the school who didn't celebrate them, and she'd managed to convince him to put it back on.

Now it was called the 'Winter Wonderland Bash', which I found was both uncreative and overused, though I didn't tell her any of that.

I couldn't wait for winter holidays. After three months of school, I was starting to get tired.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

On the Friday morning of the last day of Autumn Term, I decided to confront Namine.

Not about the Seifer subject, of course. I had a feeling that was personal.

Instead, I asked her about the reason why she and Roxas were as close as bread and butter lately.

She had stayed over at ours the night before, claiming that her boyfriend was going to be out for a while and that she'd be bunking with us for the winter. We were in the bedroom, getting ready for school. She'd already dressed up and was brushing her perfect pristine blonde hair that I'd always been jealous of.

"So…you and Roxas…what's going on between you two?"

Namine froze mid-comb. "Wh-what?"

"You…and Roxas." I repeated. "You two seem pretty close lately."

She blushed, and shrugged. "W-Well…we're friends. He's really nice…I met him when I first changed school."

I nodded. "Right. You're right—he is pretty cute."

Namine blushed harder, if possible, and sputtered. "W-Well…anyway, I just thought I should l-let you know that Roxas and I…we're gonna be working on our…you know…Art Project after school today."

I raised an eyebrow. "An Art Project? Since when did we have that?"

She dodged my question and picked up her bookbag. "Just…don't wait for me after school, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Nami," I replied with a smile. She didn't return it, but gave me an acknowledging nod before she headed out the door.

With a sigh, I got ready and headed out to catch the bus.

At least we were on the conversation stage.

That had to be something, right?

* * *

**UGGGH. HORRIBLE CHAPPIE ENDING WHAT THE HECK?**

**Well…just had to put something up before the weekend ran out.**

**I didn't even know it was possible to have a writer's block this far into the story, but whatever.**

**Not gonna put a Sneek Peek up since I'm not sure what the next chappie'll hold yet.**

**Just R&R people! While i mull over schoolwork and such...bleuggh. **

**U are so lucky you aren't in France; my teacher has this impression tht i've stopped working as hard just cause i'm moving. How unfair is that? Its not my fault i forget stuff alot...**

**But whatever. You guys dont care about this xD**

**LOVE YOU GUYS W/ A PASSION.**

**XXX **


	15. Friday, Friday

**A/N: Yes, I know. World's Biggest Procrastinator, is I. Well, okay, so I was busy, but I could have AT LEAST squeezed in time to type out this next chappie, right? Ugh. **

**NoVII aka Karasu: IKR? Enjoy!**

**Morgead'sgirl: I'm moving to Louisiana, yah. Lol. Thanks and hope you enjoy this one more!**

**NoVII a.k.a Karasu: Lol it's okay. And yeh you're right; I do have enemies for everyone! **

**ThatKid1001: IKR! Sora is girlier than Riku, at least in my opinion, except for the hair aspect. But they do both have manly sides, though Riku's is more prominent lol. Addicted chappie 20's up! Hope you liked it! **

**Q-A the Authoress: No, really? Lol, maybe. Keep on Readin' and Reviewin'.**

**Jellybean2799: Thanks lil sis! Riku's not gonna ask Kairi out until…well, you'll see. And kudos to the SoKai! I'll try to, but they're still just on the friends stage so…yeh. Enjoy!**

**Draco Oblivion: IKR? Mean Girls inspires many, many high school AUs yanno. Riku is gonna try harder…well, if he ever gets the guts to. And imagine what Kairi's parents would have done… :O. And you'll see that Riku needs Kairi way more than Sora does…that's about all I can tell you on that subject. Lol well she didn't know they were neighbors yet so…yeh. Sora didn't want to risk it, I guess. Oh, and just so you know, Kairi dreamed of her and Riku swimming in a pool of gummi bears, or feeding each other gummi bears, or something. Like she said, it just had her, Riku and a whole lot of gummi bears in it. Don't ask why. Namine and Kairi'll progress…eventually. Haha. Well, enjoy the chappie!**

**Toni Heart: Really? Aww. Thanks. Your opinion matters. *smiles mock-warmly***

**Skateboard: Ah okay. I read a lot as well. I'll check Jomatto's fic out; I'm looking for fics to read. Lol. Anyway, as for abused women…it's not that easy. At least I think it's not. Well, I used to think the same way like 'WHAT THE HELL? JUST CALL THE POLICE DAMMIT BEFORE YOU DIE!', but then I started to understand. Namine, for example, might still love Seifer. Or at least the old one. And maybe she doesn't want to call the police cause she doesn't want to lose him. Godsake, she's fifteen. She doesn't really know what she wants, really. I love Namora, but the canon pairings rock the most, I find. Sora's life is admittedly effed up, but, yeh. It all goes bad before it all gets better, right?**

**Superpeanutbutter: Yeh, it's sunny and all. And I can speak French, so it's fine. But I totally prefer a land where people speak English. Plus, people are more friendly in other places. I mean, when I'm in a shop and I have one item while the woman in front of me has a gazillion, I don't dare ask if I can quickly check out my item because in France, you just don't do that. You know? And in school, people in Primary smoke, even. France has the highest cannabis-smoking-teens rate in the world. At least that's what my brother said. But yeh. I like RiKai as well! It's so cute, huh? Though SoKai is better. Enjoy!**

**Gxmwp: Thanks! Enjoy!**

**Manco the Lurker: Lol! I lmao-d when I read your review. You're right—at this point in time, Kairi feels for Riku more than she feels for Sora. That might change later, but as for now, we can give Sora a big thumbs down. Sora's just her friend atm. Awww. But things will get better. Eventually. And then they'll get worse. Anyway, YAY! WOOT! WAY TO GO SORA! Lol Naruto lost…even with his Hermit mode? Lol, anyway, enjoy the chappie!**

**Woot, finally. About this chappie: Tidus, Yuna, Riku, Kairi, Namine, Roxas, and Sora. Can't say much else, except from IF YOU'VE FORGOTTEN WHAT HAPPENED GO CHECK OUT THE CORRESPONDING ADDICTED CHAPPIES!**

**Oh, and one quick question: Do you guys want me to stop doing Author's Notes? I know sometimes it annoys readers and all, and if I don't do them the chappies will end up much longer. But I also know that some of you like them, so I don't really know. Respond in your reviews!**

**Disclaimer: ~Someday over the rainbow…**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_We win the Sectionals!_

Yuna and Lenne took the more dignified reaction towards our victory, but the rest of us couldn't help but go all full-frontal-Bitchy and cheer and wave the trophy around and go all "IN YOUR FACE BIOTCHES!" Well, at least I did.

_Riku and I have a, well, moment._

"You were…" Riku tossed his hair away from his eyes. "You were great, by the way."

His compliment made me blush, but I hoped he suspected it was the cold. "Thanks."

_Namine and I have a little…talk._

"You…and Roxas." I repeated. "You two seem pretty close lately."

She blushed, and shrugged. "W-Well…we're friends. He's really nice…I met him when I first changed school."

I nodded. "Right. You're right—he is pretty cute."

_So she likes Roxas—it's obvious? But what about her boyfriend?_

_And what about this…Seifer?_

_Well, I guess it's not my business. My business is getting Riku to like me, no matter how improbable that is._

* * *

**Chapter 15: Friday, Friday**

We were in the cafeteria, sitting at our usual table. I was listening to Rikku, Vanille, Fang and Yuffie's conversation about changes in the cheer uniform, Yuna was talking quietly with Lenne, Riku was leaning on his palm, nodding and poking at his pasta, Wakka was rambling on about the upcoming Regional Blitzball championship (which was in the Spring, but Wakka liked to be early for everything), and Shuyin was feeding on Lenne's neck.

A normal lunchtime in the DC cafeteria.

Except for the fact that Tidus had been eerily quiet for the whole duration of the meal.

And it was only when we were standing up to get rid of our trays as the bell rang that I found out why.

"Yuna…go to the dance with me?"

We were all silent, watching the couple in anticipation. Rikku's jaw was hanging open, like she was amazed Tidus had finally gotten the guts to pop the long-awaited question. Lenne was trying not to smile, and the guys were staring at Tidus with shocked looks.

It was then that I noticed Yuna's fingers. She was gripping so tightly onto her tray that her knuckles had gone white. She kept her tray back on the table and looked at Tidus.

I think I was the only one to see the problem before it happened.

"No."

Lenne gasped and Shuyin winced, while Riku stared, wide-eyed.

Tidus' face crumpled, and he looked like he was trying really hard not to scream. "Wh…what?"

"I…I'm sorry I…" She lowered her gaze, teeth clenched. "I just…can't."

I had no idea what was happening. What the hell? Did Yuna just REJECT Tidus?

Tidus' reply came out all jumbled up; he was stuttering nonsense now. "Wh…what do you-why?"

"It's…it's just there's…" Yuna was blushing now. "…there someone else, okay?"

Uh-oh.

"Don't…" Yuna shook her head. "I'll see you in class, okay?"

Then Yuna picked up her tray again and stalked off to empty it. After we'd all gotten over the shock, we did the same.

Okay, so I'd only known Yuna for two months, but even for me it was pretty obvious that she liked Tidus. So why had she rejected him?

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We caught up with Yuna at her locker. She was hurriedly taking out her unneeded books, her brown hair shading her face. Lenne stormed over to her, livid with rage.

She crossed her arms over her chest when we reached the locker, frowning. "What. The. Hell. What was that?"

Yuna took out her _LOVELESS_ and put it in her bookbag, still not looking up at us. "What was what?"

"You just rejected him, Yuna! How could you do that?"

"I said no because I don't want to go with him," Yuna replied simply. "Tidus is a great guy but…he's just not the one."

I was sure I heard her sniff, and stopped Lenne before she could start yelling. "Yuna? You okay?"

She didn't answer.

"Yuna look at me."

She did. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked like she'd been crying. She was frowning, albeit weakly, but she still managed to look pretty through all that. "What?"

"You…you're crying—"

"I am _not _crying!" Yuna screamed. The hall was almost empty and her voice echoed off the walls. "J-Just leave me alone okay?"

She slammed her locker shut and stormed off to English Literature.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I, on the other hand, had English Literacy, and managed to get to class just in time. Yuna's behavior was bothering, as did the outright rejection. I had no idea how Tidus was going to take it.

I sighed and palmed my face. What was wrong with me? I'd only known them for, like, two months! They'd all known each other since elementary school, apparently. I didn't have the right to butt in and be all nosy about stuff that weren't my business.

We had a Spelling Test, again. So many things were going through my mind that I actually managed to misspell 'saccharine'. I wasn't able to help Sora, seeing as Aqua penalized us for that the first time we'd tried. Plus, she stationed herself in front of our table for the whole hour to make sure we didn't try cheating.

Sora sighed heavily as Aqua recuperated out tests, leaning on the desk mournfully. Concerned, I asked: "Why the long face?"

"What long face?" Sora mumbled cutely.

I giggled, ruffling his spiky hair. I'd done that a lot lately and Sora seemed to get annoyed by it, but his hair was amazingly soft despite its sharp appearance. "Come _on_; I know you better than that. I know something's up. You can tell your best friend, right?"

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "You know. Today is the Parents Q&A meeting a.k.a another opportunity for all the teachers to humiliate me in front of my parents."

I huffed. "Aw come on, you're not _that _bad!"

"No, Kairi. I _am_."

"No you're not!" I protested. "I helped you a lot this term! Remember all the homework we did together? ~_And _you've gotten better at Math too! I mean, you actually know how to solve quadratic equations now without messing up all the numbers!"

This was all true. Sora had finally managed to actually solve equations, something he had had a very hard time doing before I came. I have to admit, though, it had taken several, several weeks to get it into his head—and sometimes songs were needed.

Sora shrugged. "But still. I'm not _half _as smart as Roxas, or anyone else for that matter. I don't know why; I have some kind of problem with concentrating. It's like sometimes I'm staring at the teacher and then I blink and it's like their's this huge blank space in my memory and I realize I've missed something."

I'd heard that before. Sora had ADHD, which meant he had problems concentrating. I remembered sometimes having to tell him to stop repeatedly tapping his foot or rapping his pen on the table.

"Eh…well. You'll manage. I'm sure of it." I gave him an encouraging smile, but he all he did was smile weakly at me. I thought of a way to cheer him up—and then I had an idea. "I know how I'm gonna cheer you up! After school today, we're gonna go _date stalkin'_!"

Sora frowned. "What?"

I grinned. "You know. Namine says she and Roxas have a date today."

"What?" Sora repeated, with more vigor now.

I giggled. "Okay, so those weren't her exact words. But she did say she and Roxas were going to the park today. You know, for her 'Art Project'." I emphasized the last two words by making the speech mark signs with my fingers.

"Oh. Roxas didn't tell me any of this…"

I felt myself grin. "…which is exactly why we're gonna see more up close."

I felt evil; I was going to spy on my own half-sister. On her date.

But it was worth it.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

After school, we waited near the buses for Roxas and Namine to come out. I was wearing my favorite raincoat, feeling very warm. It was sunny yet very breezy out. The gale winds whipped at my hair, and I gave up trying to make my hair stay in one place. Sora had told me that Destiny Islands had a different winter from Radiant Garden.

Namine and Roxas came out eventually, deep in conversation. Namine was rubbing her gloved hands to warm herself up, wearing nothing but her usual hoodie and a pair of my old ripped jeans I didn't remember lending her.

They headed up the street, and then we were off.

Simply put, Sora royally **SUCKED** at spying. He didn't know how to whisper properly, he talked too loudly, and he had the insistent tendency to trip on his own feet.

We were turning a corner when Roxas' stopped. I stopped in turn, but Sora went on ahead.

"Sora!" I hissed, before diving into a large bush, Sora in tow. Sora yelped in pain, even though the bush was almost branchless and it was like lying on sand. After counting to five in my mind, I poked my head out of the bush and made sure Roxas and Namine had started walking again before relaxing. Sora was massaging his arm, and I scowled at him. "You are the worst stalking partner I have ever had."

"You mean you've done this before?" Sora asked, looking surprised.

I nodded, blushing. "Yeh. With Namine once when I was twelve."

It was a vivid memory. It was when Namine had come over to Radiant Garden to visit once. We had been stalking one of my best friends and her date. We had managed to follow them up until the Castle gardens, when we had finally lost them. Namine wasn't that much of a great spy either, but anyone was better than Sora.

"How…exactly are you and Namine related?" Sora asked, picking leaves out of his spikes.

"~Well…" I brushed at my irritating fringe. "We're half-sisters, like I said. We have the same Mom, and different Dads. It's pretty funny since her Dad has black hair and mine has blond." I didn't see the point of putting in that information, but Sora seemed to think it was funny.

He laughed, nodding. "Oh, okay. I just wanted to know."

"What about your family?" I asked as we got up from the bushes. All I really knew about Sora's family was that he had a Mom, a twin brother, a stepdad and a halfbrother. "You've never told me much about it."

"Eh, well…" He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Hn?"

"Um…hehe well, you see, my family's pretty messed up. I've told you about my Mum and my stepdad and you've seen my halfbrother and my twin brother already, right?"

I nodded, and he continued.

"~Well…actually my halfbrother and my stepdad aren't directly related. Um, well, my _real _Dad left my Mum when I was seven, and now he lives on the other side of town. My Mum got remarried to my stepdad, Zack. Well, the reason why my Mum and Dad broke up is cause he was still interested in this other girl he, um, knocked up in high school. Eh…well, that girl had a child, which is my halfbrother."

Wow. His family was way more interesting than mine.

"Yeh. We're pretty close, as far as halfbrothers go. I know it's kinda against the code to actually like your halfbrother, but whatever. He's twenty-three, by the way. My oldest brother is twenty-one, but he's never really there." He cleared his throat as we headed down the street. "And then there's my stepmom's cousin and her mom, who I sometimes see in the summer…"

I giggled, amazed by how huge his family was. "Wow. That must be cool to have such a huge family. Mine's kinda…small. We don't really visit each other often." And that was true. My Dad only had one brother, who lived in China, and Mum was an only child. I swallowed. "And now that Namine's Dad's passed away…"

I realized how hard it must have been for Namine. Namine was born eight months after me, according to Mum. She said she'd made a mistake and cheated on _my _Dad, but her and Dad didn't end up getting a divorce, surprisingly. My Dad's just not that kind of guy. This may sound weird, but all that happened is that Namine went to stay with Namine's dad, Eric, as soon as she was old enough to walk. Eric had used to live in Radiant Garden, and he became sort of a family friend, no matter how weird that had been. We visited Namine frequently, up until she moved when she was nine. She still came to visit often, up until she was twelve.

And then Eric stopped calling. He was always 'busy', and he suddenly cancelled all visiting plans. The only communication I had with Namine was over webcam and instant messaging. Namine just said he had 'problems' and that was all.

And then he had died. It was a shock, to all of us. Even Dad was sad, even though Eric had nearly ruined his and Mom's marriage. That's when we decided to move to Destiny Islands to take care of Namine.

But by then Namine had changed. She stopped talking, stopped caring. The old Namine had gone, and all that was left was the empty, quiet, lifeless shell of the real Namine.

It made me want to scream.

"I'm sorry." Sora was smiling sadly, looking pretty worried. It wasn't his fault, but it was the thought that counted, and I smiled warmly at him.

I took his hand and squeezed it. It was warm and comforting. "Don't be."

It was then that I realized we'd already reached the park, and that Namine and Roxas had arrived. Gasping, I pulled Sora down into a bush that was conveniently waiting next to us. The Destiny Island bushes were amazingly good for spying; the leaves parted easily and they were soft against my fingers.

I parted the leaves and saw Namine and Roxas. Roxas had just sat down next to a large tree, and Namine was sitting in front of him, taking out her art stuff. _So she wasn't lying about the art thing…_

I strained my ears and struggled to hear what they were saying.

"Ow! Kai—"

"SSSSHHH!" I hissed, glowering at Sora and hoping he'd get the message. Thankfully, he did.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" Sora cooed, failing miserably to whisper properly. "He's letting her draw him."

I giggled, remembering something Selphie had said earlier. "We have to come up with a name for them…"

"How bout Namixas?" Sora suggested.

"You serious?" I felt myself smile in amusement.

"Yup! You know, all those name-mashing stuff celebs do?" He shrugged. "Well…I figured we could do that for pairings. You know, Bradgelina? For example, for us it would be SoKai."

It was silent for a while. For some reason his statement made my cheeks heat up, and I thanked the leaves for slightly shadowing my face.

Sora was about to say something else when we heard…_laughter_.

Coming from _Namine_.

There she was, sitting with Roxas on the grass, giggling. A gust of wind was whipping at her hair and the paper in her sketchpad was flapping persistently. Roxas was grinning back at her, flourishing a white piece of paper. Something was drawn on it, but we were too far away to see.

She looked happier than I'd ever seen her.

"I can't believe it…" I whispered. I could feel my eyes getting hot. "She's _smiling_…"

"Two lost souls, finding comfort in each other," Sora mused. "How cute."

Somewhere along the line, our hands found each other, and Sora gave mine a warm and comforting squeeze.

I felt like laughing, crying, screaming. It was an inexplicable feeling, sitting there. There was this flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, the real Namine was coming back.

And if Roxas was the one who could make that happen, then so be it.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Eventually our legs got numb and we headed back to school. It was silent on the way back, a comfortable silence, and I walked with a feeling of accomplishment. I couldn't wait to tell Mum Namine had finally smiled.

We were that desperate. Mum had started to get worried. She even suggested a child psychologist, but Namine just glared at her until she dropped the idea. Namine was fifteen, Mum had said. It's probably just another teenage depression.

Weeks passed and she hadn't made a single sound. Mum had forced her to sleep at our house at least twice a week. Whenever she came she never ate. As soon as she came she went upstairs and crashed on the bed.

The worst was when Mum found Namine cutting herself in the bathroom.

She was just about to lose it. She was all set to send Namine to a psychiatrist, but I managed to talk her out of it. We opted for just clearing my room of sharp objects and placing all others on high shelves.

I smiled, knowing Mum would relax when she heard Namine was smiling again.

We eventually arrived at school. Roxas and Namine arrived not-too-later, but they weren't as smiley as they'd been in the park. It didn't matter all that much; at least I knew Namine was okay.

Sora and I had just gotten back when Riku and the others came. Yuna was there, and so was Tidus, but they weren't talking.

"We're going to Starbucks," Riku called. "Come with?"

I didn't see any option and nodded, turning to look at Sora. "See ya later, I guess," I shrugged, not wanting to hug him in front of all the others and instead settling for a wave. Sora gave me a parting smile as I went to join the others.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Riku had come up with idea of going to Starbucks while waiting for our parents to finish talking with our teachers and stuff. Everyone seemed fine with the idea.

I had a hot chocolate with double whipped cream and marshmallows, just the way I liked it at home.

All the others got posh drinks like Lattes and Mochas and all that, and I felt like I'd committed a crime.

Vanille raised an eyebrow as I sat down with my drink. "Do you _know _how much fat is in that?"

I shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. I'm just cold and I need a drink."

Lenne laughed. "Yeh, well. Vanille's right. That drink is, like, calories galore."

"Like I care," I mumbled, taking a sip. Actually I did start to care, especially after they started giving me The Look. (I knew The Look was a bad thing; they gave it to Selphie when she came to school wearing combat boots, which were apparently a fashion no-no in Destiny College.) Suddenly the hot chocolate tasted too sweet and the marshmallows stuck to my teeth, and I had to throw it in the bin. I went and bought some coffee with a fancy name which, according to Fang, had the least calories out of all of them.

It tasted horrible.

We were all sitting down at a booth, which amazingly managed to fit all of us: Shuyin, Lenne, Wakka, Tidus, Riku, Vanille, Rikku, Fang, Yuffie, Yuna and me.

We managed not to run out of things to talk about; Vanille and Rikku were all bubbly about the upcoming Winter Wonderland Bash, while the guys were discussing Blitzball stuff, as usual.

I noticed Tidus had been stirring his coffee cup for almost ten minutes, and it had obviously gotten cold. Yuna was sipping her coffee cup silently, fiddling with the beads in her hair and looking out the window.

They didn't talk to each other for the rest of the evening.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I woke up the next morning, tired beyond belief. Mum had spent forever at the Parents meeting after I'd come back from Starbucks. I'd thought she'd be done by then, like normal parents, but no. She was discussing Namine's grades with the teacher. They had plummeted drastically, and her average was a glaring D-, only saved from being an F- because of her Art and Drama grades.

Namine had always been a bright student, at least when she was living in the Garden. Which explained why Mum was appalled.

She and Dad had had a little screaming fit as soon as they got back, and I'd fallen asleep to the sound of their yells. Namine was asleep when I got back, so I couldn't talk to her about it.

I did tell Mum Namine had smiled, but it didn't do much to cheer Mum up in the state she was in.

Yawning, I got out of bed and brushed my teeth before heading downstairs. Mum was in the kitchen, cleaning, the way she always did when she was upset.

"Hey, mum," I greeted, pouring myself a bowl of Cinnamon Squares. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really," she replied, sniffing.

I halted. "Mom…? Are you okay?"

She stopped scrubbing the windows. "…it's…it's Namine. I'm worried, Kairi. I don't know what's wrong with her. I don't know whether it's because Eric's p-passed away or—"

"Mum," I walked over to her and hugged her from behind. "It's going to be fine. You know, Namine even smiled yesterday."

Mum stared at me incredulously. "Really?"

"Yup! I told you yesterday while you were screaming at Dad."

Mum chuckled lightly. "Oh. Sorry about that."

"No worries," I chirped. "You know what, Mum? Let's bake muffins! That always gets you in a good mood, right?"

"Right," Mum laughed gently, kissing me on the forehead. "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you, Kairi. Without you…I don't know what I'd do."

"I know, right?" I joked, earning me a playful scowl from Mum.

We baked tons of muffins, dancing and singing along to every song that came on on the radio. The muffins came out golden and fresh, but we both knew we were never going to be able to finish all of them.

"I know!" I clapped my hands. "You know those neighbors you were always begging me to go visit in the summer? _Well_, I never really got to see them, so I was thinking of, you know, giving them some muffins!"

"Uh…" Mum looked wary. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Kairi."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"I…It's windy out; you could drop the basket."

"I'll be extra careful. _Please_, Mum, I really want to give them some muffins. You said they're really nice, right? And you _know_ we're never going to finish all these!"

Mum thought it over, and then sighed in resign. "Very well then. Just don't be too long!"

"Okie chokes!" I retrieved the decorated bread basket we never used and filled it to the brim with some of our golden muffins. I sniffed a few; they smelled just like Sora, like the bakery.

I had a shower, threw on a proper top, had breakfast, and headed over to the next-door-neighbors house.

The house looked pretty old, with vines crawling up the left wall and bits of roof peeled off. There was a ragged '_Welcome_' mat on the doorstep, and half-dead pansies littered the yard.

I hoped the people inside would be nicer than the outside. _Never judge a book by its cover, right?_

Taking a deep breath, I rang the bell.

I waited for about fifty seconds before the door opened.

And there, standing in front of me, face half-buried in Heat! magazine, spiky hair billowing in the wind…

…was Sora.

"Sora?"

"K-Kairi?"

* * *

**LMAO. CLIFFHANGERS ROCK MANNNNN.**

**Well, you already know what's gonna happen since you've read Addicted.**

**Hope this chappie had enough SoKai; almost nonexistent RiKai in this. Focused more on the family, and stuff.**

* * *

**Sneek Peek: **

"…_I had no idea we were neighbors."_

"_What do you _mean_ you're not going?"_

"_Dance with me?"_

"_Mistletoe!"_

* * *

**Lol. Feed on that biotches.**

**Well, thanks for all your 'wish me lucks' and all. My week hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, and I'm sure it's all thanks to you. **

**Next up: Apologize. Let's be going in order, shall we?**

**R&R and LOL (here standing for LOTS OF LOVE). XXX**


	16. Winter Holidays: Stage 1

**A/N: Hark! What is this sound that dost slap mine ear? My, the fair cry of thy incensed reviewers! **

**Yeah, well, went with the Anglophone section of the school to watch Macbeth in Paris. Wasn't that bad, but I have an aversion to anything Shakespeare. (Though I don't mind **_**A Midsummer Night's Dream**_** or **_**The Tempest**_** or **_**Romeo and Juliet**_**...) Anyway, did you know there's actually a lane on the way there that's dubbed 'Prostitute Lane'? And, just like the name suggests, there are INDEED a LOT of prezzies on that lane! Some idiot in the bus waved at one of them, and she responded by waving her gigantic boobs at him! :O I totally understand Riku's fear of prostitutes. I mean, really. It must take a lot to end up like THAT later in life. **

**NoVII aka Karasu: Lol, naw. Just an expression…Lol. Send the story whenever you want! But I'm a bit busy this week but next week'll be fine! :D **

**Superpeanutbutter: Pfft…at least in Michigan they speak English…YAY MICHIGAN! '**_**Double chins and bowling pins!**_**' (lol RHCP song reference). I love hot chocolate aswell! So yummy…**

**ClassicCartoon27: Lol, IKR? :D Enjoy!**

**Draco Oblivion: I know, well she doesn't know that does she? =D Lol. Totally with you on the looking-through-window comment. She'll freak when she finds out (yes, I said WHEN). She doesn't want to lose her popularity so she's conforming to her friends' standards. Haha, my mum didn't know LOL didn't mean Lots Of Love until last year when she was writing a letter to someone and put LOL after…**

**Jellybean2799: I know, I know. RiKai to the extreme! There's gonna be even more in here…**

**Gxwmp: She won't…he will…well, not exactly but…meh just read. **

**Toni Heart: Lol! Good luck! I tried and failed at playing Just Dance 2 at the Wii…so unfair that CeCe and Rocky can dance so well…**

**ThatKid10001 (Did I get it right this time? Sorry zeroes! Hope you're not too offended…): Lol, thanks! Enjoy! **

**Q-A the Authoress: Peer pressure is evil, I agree. Tidus and Yuna…enjoy the chappie!**

**Manco: Whoa. Whopping long review. I ISH HAPPY. Anyway, good luck on your six-pack endeavor! I've been trying and failing to go on a diet (I'm not fat, but I'm not skinny either…) Anyway. Lol, I'd like to see you do that with Sora. Well, don't worry, Sora will get a makeover…eventually. Good luck on your love life endeavors as well…maybe by the time this fic is ended you'll be together (or maybe even earlier). So lucky your body actually LISTENS to you. Mine doesn't. Sora and Kairi having a meeting…INEVITABLE. Let's just see what happens to them and quit speculating…or something. Sora's trying to make statements…well, sorta. Riku's been in relationships before, so OF COURSE he'll get Kairi first. He knows how to deal with girls. Naruto should have used his Hermit Mode to defeat Sora! UGGHHHH! Lol. But yay for Sora! You should, like, get a ninja form now! Lol. I'll check the Naruto/Sora dance-off when I have time! Good luck on your workout and enjoy the chappie!**

**Dracozombie: Yay! You again. Well, I checked and everything, and they didn't really ban it. All they said was that we're not allowed to put author's notes IN the chappie, not, like, as an intro. I mean, practically ALL the stories on the site either have A/Ns in or at the end of the chappie. Well, at least those I've read. Kairi talked her Mum out of getting Namine help because she knows it would only worsen Namine's condition, yup. She had a tantrum when she was a kid when taken to a child psychologist. And, well, Namine is never at home unless Kairi or the Mum is, so they'd notice if Namine went to get the knifes and stuff…I dunno. I'll probably expand on that when I'm doing the clean-up. I don't use sentence tags improperly usually; I'm actually the punctuation guru of the class. Well, probably the site changes it or maybe I'm just not paying enough attention to myself. Plus, my keyboard is in French so I make mistakes frequently. Meh, oh well. Mom=Sora. Mum=Kairi. At least I think so… =P Ugh, I can't decide which one to use. I pronounce them both the same anyways. And 'yeh', like the word 'cause', doesn't really have an official spelling. So…yeh. **

**Morgead'sgirl: No idea. Seriously, I'm getting pretty lost. Had to recheck several times to make sure everything was in order…anyway. I am gonna be the weird new girl with the Mid-Atlantic accent (I used to have a Scottish accent, so thank god I lost THAT). Lol! Poor you! I have a Canadian in my class and half the French words used by kids aren't the same in Canada…so awkward for him. Enjoy!**

**Nightingale mistress: Aw, thanks! Have you read the other sides of the story? (Addicted and Apologize?) I suggest you check them out if you haven't. Enjoy!**

**AcidicWrath (without the period because otherwise fanficcy-dot-net will think your penname is a website link): Lol, okay! I'm trying as hard as i can to update, but my life's royally sucking right now. Throwing everything it's got at me, really. But I chugged out this update extra super quick (AHEM, YEH RITE), just for you! **

**Whoooo. Off we goooooo. About the chappie: SO SO SORRY FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HATE RIKAI. Oh, and this one's pretty long. I think.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the marvellous song 'I'll Be' by Edwin McCain.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Yuna totally blows Tidus off._

"Yuna…go to the dance with me?"

"No."

_Sora and I go date stalking…_

"We have to come up with a name for them…"

"How bout Namixas?"

_And…Namine _smiles_. And _laughs_._

There she was, sitting with Roxas on the grass, giggling.

She looked happier than I'd ever seen her.

_And now I'm getting ready for the upcoming Winter Bash._

_Whoopie._

* * *

**Chapter 16: Winter Holidays—Stage One**

"Sora?"

"K-Kairi?"

There I was, standing at Sora's front porch holding a basket of rapidly cooling muffins, shocked beyond belief. I felt my cheeks heating up when I noticed he was wearing nothing but a faded red hoodie and boxer shorts (Was that _Spiderman_?), his chest and stomach fully exposed. Okay, so I'd seen better, since his body wasn't exactly _that _impressive...but the fact that Sora was a _guy_ and he was _shirtless _was enough to get my hormones racing.

We stayed there staying at each other for what seemed like eternity when suddenly Sora slammed the door in my face.

I was a little hurt at first, hurt that he hadn't told me we lived next to each other. And confused. I mean, why? What—did he not want to tell me because he thought I was annoying, or something? We were best friends, right? The whole situation didn't really make sense.

Then the door reopened, and I was staring at Sora again. He was wearing jeans now, and his hoodie was zipped all the way up now.

"Uh…hey." Sora scratched the back of his head nervously, eyes not quite reaching my face.

I tried my best to grin. "Hi! Uh…wow…I had no idea we were neighbors."

"Y-Yeh…me neither."

I gave him a look.

"I-I mean…" Sora must have understood it. "…you know…my family's a mess and I was kinda embarrassed and all…it gets a bit noisy around here sometimes."

I resisted the urge to hug him. "I wouldn't mind. I mean, my family's WAY too boring compared to yours."

Sora smiled warmly and motioned for me to follow him inside. "Well…what brings you here?"

I shrugged, looking around the house. The couch looked like it was more than a thousand years old. The walls of the living room were a creamy beige color and I spotted a few scribbles which I figured were probably made by a baby version of Sora or Roxas or their other older brother. The floor was carpeted and stained in several places, and I heard rock music coming from upstairs.

I brought my eyes back to Sora, remembering he asked me a question. "~Well, actually, my Mum was nagging at me all summer to go visit the neighbors and everything, but, you know, I was busy this summer."

"Doing what?" Sora asked, heading to the kitchen.

"This and that." I didn't really feel like telling him I was busy creating my new image to try and forget my past, because then he'd start asking questions and then I'd be forced to tell him about…It.

Sora nodded, bringing out a Coke from the fridge. "Want one?" I shook my head in response. "Suits yourself."

I continued looking around the house. The living room table was free apart from a pile of tax forms and such, along with the television remote. The television itself looked a bit odd amidst all the second-hand-looking things; it was a HD flatscreen, and looked pretty new.

And then I noticed the line of pictures decorating the shelf behind the TV, and curiously approached it.

The first one was so adorable that I couldn't help but squeal.

"Is this you?" I cooed, pointing at the photo. It was photo of a miniature Sora wearing Winnie the Pooh pajamas, looking up at the camera with the same adorable pout he still sported up until then. He was cuddling a Mickey Mouse plushie and the floor behind him was littered with puzzle pieces and Lego. "You were so adorable!"

"I guess that's another way you could put it," Sora joked, sipping his Coke. I laughed and shook my head. How could he _not _find that photo cute?

And then I spotted the photo album.

Sora blanched. "Oh hell no…"

The Winnie the Pooh photo wasn't the cutest photo of Sora—the best were yet to come. Sora was, unsurprisingly, undeniably adorable when he was younger. The photographer had talent as well, taking the most amazing photos. It was impossible not to coo at all the miniature versions of my best friend. There were three things that stayed the same throughout: his hair, his pout and his brilliant, girl-killer smile. Sora was whining for the whole hour, covering his face in embarrassment as I laughed my way through the album. Sora and his family watching fireworks. Sora sticking out his tongue at his Dad. Sora finger-painting in his back garden. Sora holding a glaring contest with Roxas. Sora running around naked.

"~Well, that's enough for today, I guess," Sora chuckled nervously, yanking the album away from my grasp. I protested, of course, but then I decided I'd do the same if it was _my _baby pictures we were looking at.

Sora went to hide the photo album, and I curiously headed explored the house. I pulled back the curtains at the back of the living room and noticed there was a screen door, which led outside to the back garden.

It was cloudy out, but the clouds were a faint grey color. The sun was shining, but it was still winter breezy.

The garden was a pitiful sight. It was like someone had had so many great ideas, but never finished them. There were a bunch of flower pots, with plants that looked like they hadn't been watered for years. Weeds were breaking out from the drenched soil. There was grass, but it was soaked as well. There were several dandelions, which were the only living flowers in the garden.

It looked like the exact opposite of my garden, where Mum was growing practically all flowers in existence—from magnolias to roses, from camellias to ambrosias, from carnations to lavenders. Mum planned to remake our old garden before the end of the year. She was, like, a flower guru, and knew all the meanings of every single flower in existence.

If Namine was there, she'd probably have said she could feel vibes of melancholy, dejection and unhappiness coming from that garden.

I was about to make some kind of sick joke on the state of the garden when I saw Sora's face and the words died in my throat. He looked sadder than I'd ever seen him—sadder than the time in the infirmary when I laughed at him over the Riku thing. It seemed like so long ago.

He looked like he was about to cry, which was pretty shocking. I managed to read his expression perfectly; the garden brought back memories, and they were slowly tearing back into his life.

I knew how that felt. Not caring if it was awkward or not, I walked up to him and wrapped him into a comforting hug, hoping it would help him somehow.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Later, Sora's living room.

Sora was sitting on the couch, watching TV while I'd just returned from the bathroom (where, strangely enough, there was a box labeled 'MAGAZINES' next to the toilet. I didn't want to ask questions, but that was just disgusting.)

I decided to bring up the subject of the Winter Bash. "So…what are you wearing to the Bash tomorrow?" He just gave me a blank look. "Oh, right, you're a guy. Well, I already got my dress picked and everything—"

"There's no way I'm going to…that thing," he muttered.

I was shocked. "What do you _mean_ you're not going?" I yelled. "Of course you are!"

He rolled his eyes. "I've never gone before and I don't plan on going in the future. What makes you think that's gonna change?"

"You mean, you've _never_ gone to a school gig before?" I sat down next to him, unconvinced.

I was shocked when he shook his head. "What's the point? Besides…I prefer staying at home."

I was slightly disappointed. I was thinking maybe I'd get Sora and Riku to stop fighting if I got him to go to the Bash, or something. Okay, not really, but I was actually looking forward to going to the Bash with Sora.

"No way," I growled. "There is no way I'm letting you stay here and watch TV, slouching on the sofa like a couch potato while everyone else is out skating!"

He shrugged. "Whatever. I'm staying here; they're showing a rerun of the first season of Desperate Housewives."

"You're a _guy_, Sora."

"And?"

I crossed my arms. "Well, most guys would prefer going outside to get some exercise to staying at home to watch TV."

"Well, I guess I'm not like 'most guys'."

He was getting annoying. "That's just SAD. You'd prefer to watch some dumb drama marathon—which, by the way, is for girls—to going to the Winter Wonderland Bash?"

"Yes."

I huffed. "Fine. Whatever. See if I care. I don't need you there anyway." And then I stood up and marched out the door.

I was planning to go home and slam the door behind me, not caring if he came or not, but I couldn't bring myself to do that.

Instead, I'd barely made it to my front porch when I couldn't take it anymore and ran back to Sora's. "Aw, come _on_, Sora! Please?" I pleaded.

I noticed he was weakening, and positioned myself in front of him to block out the TV. "Please?"

He was dithering now, and his 'no's were getting weaker by the second. I fell to my knees and started begging, knowing that always seemed to work when I wanted something from him.

"FINE!" He yelled, covering his face in resign. "Fine."

I squealed, clapping my hands and getting to my feet. "Yay! I knew you'd come through sooner or later!"

He pouted as I ruffled his hair, obviously miffed. "You're evil."

I laughed at that. "Well, if you weren't so stubborn I wouldn't have had to unmask my dark side."

He rolled his eyes and let out a sarcastic 'haha'.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

On Sunday afternoon, Lenne organized another make-up session at Yuna's before the Bash.

Yuna wasn't too keen on going; in fact, she didn't even know Lenne had organized anything until we showed up at her front door, Lenne brandishing her outfit.

"No way," she muttered. "I'm not going to the stupid Bash, guys."

"Yes you are," Lenne retorted immediately, walking into her house casually and heading upstairs to her bedroom. I looked around Yuna's bedroom curiously; I'd never gotten past her living room. It was so pink it hurt. It reminded me a bit of the kind of room the Plastics had in Mean Girls.

The walls were all pink, and the floor consisted of fluffy pink carpeting. She even had the whole four-poster bed and ornate gold mirror and everything. Her iPad2 rested on her desk, under her perfectly arranged bookshelf. Her maid had just finished hoovering the carpet when we came in. Posters of pop stars such as Britney Spears, Rihanna and Lady Gaga, along with a few old boy bands, like Westlife, Hoobastank and N'Sync lined the walls. Her wardrobe was double the size of mine, and when Lenne opened it, I noticed she had at least thrice as many clothes as me as well.

I took off my shoes and cautiously sat on Yuna's bed, freaking out every five seconds that I'd bump into something and destroy her perfect room.

"Where're those pair of silver boots I bought you for your birthday last year, Yuna? They'd be perfect for this dress! And what about that diamond necklace?"

Yuna sighed, sitting down next to me on her bed. "Lenne, I told you already; I'm not going."

"This is about Tidus, isn't it?" I asked, immediately regretting it at the glare she gave me.

"No, it's not," she snapped. "And you don't know anything so shut it."

"Hey," Lenne interjected. "She's just trying to help. And she's got a point."

Yuna sighed. "It's just…why did he have to go and do that? Go and make it all awkward between us…?" She frowned and started playing with one of her pink throw pillows.

We both watched her sympathetically. Lenne came and sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around her best friend. "Come on, Yuna. I know you. You're not usually the type to turn down stuff like this that easily." Lenne tapped Yuna's nose fondly. "I _know _you wanna go."

Yuna struggled to hold back a smile. "Fine. We'd better get dressed up before we're late."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We ended up being late anyway, seeing as when Rikku, Vanille, Selphie, Fang and Ashe arrived, they spent FOREVER and a half doing their make-up.

We finally left the house, all dressed up in our various outfits. It felt so great, amidst unnaturally pretty and popular girls, completely the opposite of what I had been used to before the move.

I was wearing my Mrs. Santa outfit, the one I never used after my fifteenth birthday. It surprisingly still fit, though it hugged my chest a little too tightly. I'd worn my black suede lace-ups, I'd done my make-up myself and I felt pretty proud of my work.

Okay, so I looked NOWHERE as great as Yuna and Lenne, who had matching winter versions of their trademark Songstress outfits. As always, they looked like supermodels; I had no idea how I qualified to be in their group.

We all squeezed into Yuna's car and got there around half-past-six, to see the guys all waiting outside. Tidus and Shuyin looked like twins, and Wakka seemed unconscious of the cold.

"Hey, guys!" I greeted with a wave, trying to catch their attention. They noticed us and waved back, and I spotted Riku staring at me. Blushing, I looked away.

"Let's go!" Vanille chirped, yanking Selphie by the arm and leading the way inside.

* * *

Selphie had really over done it. Even though it was apparently meant to be Non-Denominational, there were still holly and mistletoe hung everywhere, along with other subtle Christmassy things. The skating rink was packed with several familiar faces, along with Sora's, and I smiled politely when random people said hi to me. Probably because they knew me from the Cheer Team, or I'd passed by them in the cafeteria and said hi…I never really knew. People just seemed to like me—the complete opposite of back at the Garden.

It made me want to cry sometimes.

Lenne immediately went off with Shuyin, acting all lovey-dovey and kissy-kissy, as usual. Selphie went off with Vanille, Yuffie and Ashe to brag about her decorations and force people to donate to the school committee. Leaving me alone with Yuna.

The air felt pretty weird, and we just skated absently while I looked around for Sora. He had disappeared weirdly enough. I saw all his friends, like Penelo and Vaan, but I couldn't see him anywhere.

I frowned.

"Looking for Sora?" Yuna asked, making me jump. I met her eyes and nodded, blushing. She sighed and tossed her head in the direction of the Snack Bar. "Saw him going that way not too long ago."

"Thanks." I spotted Tidus looking at her over her shoulder. "Oh, and Tidus is staring at you."

Yuna jumped and turned around in shock, and I left the scene, hoping for something interesting to happen.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It took me a while of perambulating the halls, but, sure enough, I met Sora sitting at a booth, alone, eating a tasty-looking muffin and a mug of the brown stuff I was forbidden to drink. His beanie was his favorite color—a bright orange that clashed with his eyes.

"There you are!" I exclaimed, running over to see him. He didn't really look that happy to see me, but I ignored that. "I've been looking all over for you!"

He groaned as I took him by the hand and dragged him back to the rink. "Come on!" I tapped him on the shoulder. "Tag! You're it!"

Okay, so this was probably the most childish game ever, but for some reason I wasn't embarrassed to be playing it with Sora. I was practically a professional skater, seeing as I'd trained myself ever winter back at the Garden, since the lakes usually turned to ice at the end of the year.

Soon enough I noticed he wasn't following me, and saw him leaning on a barrier and looking pretty miserable. I skated over to him, feeling pretty stupid. He looked terrified for some reason. "Hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you skating?"

He mumbled something incoherent.

I frowned. "What?"

He looked at me in the eyes. "I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SKATE."

I stared at him. "You can't be serious." He nodded, and I sighed in irritation.

Sora, it turned out, didn't know how to do a lot of things. Like, climb a tree, or ride a bike, for example. I'd suggested building a treehouse (which was a pretty rash idea seeing as the trees in the park probably belonged to the government but whatever) when we went out to the park, but I had to scrap the idea when I realized he was scared of heights. I'd also suggested we hire a bike and go riding, but it was obvious after barely five minutes that this was an idea that was a hazard to Sora's health.

I crossed my arms. "You don't know how to ride a bike, you don't know how to climb a tree…and now you don't know how to skate?"

He shrugged dismissively. "I was a deprived child."

I glared at him, but I eventually gave in. I felt a little hurt that he hadn't told me, though. "You could've told me before."

"Yeh, like that woulda changed anything," he scoffed, smirking.

I grinned. "Yeh, you're right. It wouldn't have." I paused to think it over, and then took his hands. His woolen gloves seemed handmade, and they reminded me of the gloves Namine had sewn for me in Home Eco when she was eleven. "I guess this means I'll just have to teach ya."

He groaned, looking pretty frightened. "Y-You know what? I think it'd be better if I just—"

"It's not that hard. All you've got to do is push your feet like this, you know, like rollerblading—" I stopped myself. "And, yeh, I assume you don't know how to do that either."

He flashed me his winning smile as I dragged him off the barrier. "You assumed correctly."

I laughed. "Come on—you'll get it sooner or later!"

* * *

Okay, so maybe I spoke too soon.

He was hopeless at it.

Which was annoying, yet adorable.

I spent nearly half-an-hour teaching him to be able to stand on his feet without falling over. Several times I ended up on the floor with him, which was pretty embarrassing, but I couldn't stop laughing. He was so _cute _when he pouted.

"See?" He mumbled, massaging his arm after he fell over for the umpteenth time. "I told you I was hopeless."

"No you're not," I lied. "You'll get a hang of it."

He didn't look convinced, but sighed in resign. I was just about to show him how to brake when I spotted Riku skating flawlessly in the ice. He saw me looking and called me over.

"I'll…I'll be right back, okay?" I assured him. He nodded half-heartedly, still panting, and I patted him on the shoulder before heading over to Riku.

He grinned as soon as I joined him. "Hey."

"Hey." I looked around. "All alone?"

"Yeah," Riku replied. "The others are all busy doing…stuff. Having fun?" I nodded, and he smirked. "Noticed you were trying to teach Him how to skate."

I didn't like his tone of voice, but ignored it. "Yeh, well."

We smiled companionably at each other as we began to skate.

Riku started up more conversation. "Selphie really overdid this place, huh?"

"Yeah," I giggled. "She really has a thing for decorations. Is she, like, on every single club or something?"

"Pretty much, yeh," Riku chuckled. "She figures being on every club is what'll make her popular. I, personally, think she's pretty annoying."

I shrugged. "She's okay." I dodged some mistletoe. "I just wish she wouldn't put all that mistletoe in random places."

"It's supposed to be 'romantic'." He rolled his aquamarine eyes, and I laughed.

"Well, I guess it could be romantic for some…" I tossed my head in the direction of Shuyin and Lenne, who looked like they had been liplocked for more than half an hour.

Riku laughed and shook his head. "The day they break up, I'm getting a haircut."

I giggled, imagining him with short hair. I had a feeling he'd still look hot. We skated in silence for a while, passing by several people. I felt his eyes on me and struggled not to look at him, but finally gave up.

He was looking down at me with a smile on his face, and I immediately felt self-conscious. "What?" I asked, hoping he'd mistake the blush on my face for the cold.

"You look amazing."

My body temperature rose, by, like, a million. "Th-thanks." (I figured I should have said something like 'You don't look too bad yourself', but I decided that was used way too much in movies and, plus, I never really got why they didn't just say the guy looked fucking smexy instead of saying he 'didn't look too bad'. I mean, what the hell?).

He smiled back at me and then looked away. "You know…I never really believed in Santa."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. I'd believed in him up until I was eight.

"Yeah. I never really got how some fat guy could travel, like, the whole territory of the world—with some six billion people living in it—in one night, accessing houses via chimney. I guess you could say 'it's magic' but…I'm the kind of guy who only believes in what I see. You know, like God."

I shrugged. "Yeh, but gravity and wind and air are invisible, but you still know _they _exist."

Riku thought about that for a moment. "True." He was quiet for a while. "I guess…I was never told he existed, you know? My Dad…he made it pretty clear he didn't exist at Christmas. He just gave me a present and that was it. Not even a Christmas tree."

I felt horrible for him. He'd missed out on something that occupied a large part of my childhood. "Why not?"

He looked like he was about to say something when, suddenly, I was pushed from behind, ending up in me losing my balance.

I closed my eyes shut and braced myself for the impact…but it never came.

Somehow, Riku had managed to catch me before I hit the ground. I blinked up at Riku, who was looking at someone over my shoulder.

I turned around to see some guy with brunette hair, who was looking at Riku with a terrified look on his face. "I-I-I'm so sorry I w-wasn't looking where I was going—"

I giggled at his reaction, finding it a bit over-the-top. "It's alright. I'm accident-prone anyway."

Brunet was silent for a bit, but he eventually grinned. "Sorry, anyway. I should have paid more attention. I'm—"

"—yeh we don't care," Riku snapped, pulling me by lightly by the arm and turning us in the opposite direction. He looked slightly miffed, but I didn't really know why.

And then suddenly the lights dimmed, and a slow violin tune started to play.

I froze.

_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful_

_Stop me and steal my breath_

_And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky_

_Never revealing their depth…_

Couples all over the room—even Lenne and Shuyin—had stopped whatever they were doing and had started to dance. I swallowed and looked up at Riku, who had stopped skating. He was still holding my hand. I was about to open my mouth to say something when, suddenly, he turned to me with a dazzling smile. He pulled me towards him, his free hand settling on my waist.

My heart started pounding—fast.

"Dance with me?"

He didn't even wait for an answer.

_And tell me that we belong together_

_Dress it up with the trappings of love_

_I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips_

_Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above…_

It was amazing, the feeling of dancing with _Riku_.

He knew all the moves, and, even on ice, he was perfect at them. I tested him with my best moves, and he always knew how to follow them. It was amazing, really. It may sound cheesy, but it was like our bodies were _made _for each other.

_And I'll be your cryin' shoulder_

_I'll be love suicide _

_And I'll be better when I'm older_

_I'll be the greatest fan of your life…_

Several times our faces came inches apart, and I had to quickly pull away before I did anything stupid. It was like one of those love scenes in Korean romance movies, when the guy and the girl share a romantic dance under the moonlight.

_And I dropped out, I burned up, I fought my way back from the dead, _

_I tuned in, I turned on, remembered the thing that you said…_

I couldn't believe what was happening. I was dancing with a really hot guy in an amazing school gig in a new environment where everyone seemed to like me. I was dancing with the most popular guy in school. Something I was sure would never happen to me after the incident.

_And I'll be your cryin' shoulder_

_I'll be love suicide _

_And I'll be better when I'm older_

_I'll be the greatest fan of your life…_

The song came to an end, and, just like the in the movies, Riku suddenly dipped me, holding me securely to assure I didn't fall.

Looking at him, I felt this tickling feeling in my stomach, and I didn't want it to go away.

And then I realized everyone in the hall had stopped dancing to watch us. They were all looking at us in utter amazement, and to my surprise they broke into a round of applause.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"Where'd you learn to dance like that?" Riku asked as we were having a drink some time later.

I hesitated, but decided to tell him anyway. "Tap dance," I muttered, feeling a blush creeping up my neck.

Riku looked amused. "Really? Tap dance?" I nodded, and he burst out laughing.

I frowned into my cup of lemonade. When he _still_ didn't stop laughing, I decided to intervene. "What about _you_, huh? How did _you _learn how to dance all professional-like?"

"I did ballroom dancing, tango and all that," he replied, shaking his head. "Up until I was eleven. Then I stopped to focus on my Blitzball 'career'."

I was impressed. Riku? Ballroom dancing? No way. "I can so see you going Broadway."

He let out his trademark sexy laugh. "Nah. I'm not _that _good."

I sipped on my lemonade. "What _do _you wanna be, you know, later?"

Riku scrunched his eyebrows in thought. "Well…I've always wanted to be an actor, but…" He shook his head. "I don't see that happening."

_I totally do. _"Why not? I think you'd be a great actor. And singer too."

Suddenly something hit me. I'd totally forgotten about Sora!

And then, all of a sudden, I heard someone yell: "Come _on_, Sora, it's just _one _kiss!"

I turned around to see the origin of the voice; it was Snow, Sora's bulky skier friend. I spotted Vaan with him, and they were both looking at a red-faced Sora and flushed Penelo, who were sitting under a bunch of…

…mistletoe.

For some reason, seeing that made me frown. There was this feeling of _something_, nagging at me, making me feel irritated, watching them blush and act all 'aw isn't that cute' and acting like they'd come out of some sappy romance novel.

"You okay?" Riku asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. He was looking at me with a concerned expression on his face.

"Yeh…I'm fine," I replied, smiling at him. He seemed convinced, and I continued sipping my drink.

At that time, I didn't notice what I was feeling was…jealousy.

* * *

It was like no one else in the group had a curfew.

Well, I did. Mum was very strict about staying out to late after the time I came back after midnight on my fifteenth…well. Let's not go back to _that_.

"U-Um…like, when does the Bash finish?" I asked Selphie.

She shrugged and continued talking with Zidane. I frowned and hesitated before asking Riku.

He shrugged as well. "Well, they usually just finish after everyone goes."

"Oh." I looked at Riku's watch; it was eleven-thirty, _way _past my curfew. "U-Um…so when are _you _goin'?"

"I dunno. Whenever I feel like." He shrugged again, hands in his pockets, rolling his eyes at some boy-joke Shuyin must have made behind my back before turning back to me. "Why?"

I didn't really know how to answer, and instead stuttered some sort of warped reply. "U-Um w-well you know, the ice is great but won't it melt, you know, and it's getting late and—"

"I can take you home, if that's what you're trying to say," he interjected. I noticed he was smirking, and I felt pretty stupid.

I giggled nervously. "U-Um…thanks."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Riku's car looked even better on the inside. It was spotless, and it looked like one of those cars in the commercials. He turned on the ignition and started the car. "Seatbelt?"

I strapped myself in and nodded, and we started off to my house.

In the car, we had some of those pointless 'let's-fill-the-awkward-silence' conversations.

"Nice car."

"Thanks. Got it for my fifteenth."

"Cool. What make?"

"Hyundai, I think."

"Hm. Nice."

Or:

"Where you live?"

"Um, 15th Palm Street. It's not too far from here."

"Oh, okay."

Or the infamous:

"It's raining."

"Yeah. The weather forecast said it'd rain today."

"Hm."

None of us brought up the sexy-dancing-in-the-middle-of-the-rink subject up. I guess the calm and collected and not-at-all-blushing-like-hell feeling disappeared once we were alone and in a car.

We finally drove up in front of my house, and Riku switched off the engine. "Here?"

"Yeah, perfect." I was about to get out when I remembered something. "Thanks, by the way."

"No problem."

And then he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

Okay, so apart from the fact that it was completely random, it was also marvelous. It was amazing how just five seconds of the feel of his lips on my skin made me feel like lightning was surging through my veins. It took all my willpower not to lose control and jump him.

Before I knew it he had pulled away, and the moment had ended.

_Silence._

What followed was the typical conversation of a bunch of lovesick idiot that are too slow to admit they like each other. Or something.

"Well…"

"Yeah…"

"Hehe…"

"I should be goin'…"

"Yeah…"

I climbed out of the car, making sure I didn't trip on the edge and fall flat on my face and ruin the whole straight-out-of-a-movie moment, before turning around and waving at Riku. "Goodnight."

"'Night."

And then I shut the door, and he started the engine, and he zoomed away.

Okay, so he didn't walk me up to the door with his umbrella or anything, which probably would have topped it all off.

But I didn't care that the rain soaked my hair or that Mum yelled at me and banned me from going out with friends for a week, or that Namine didn't want to show me her new drawing.

Because Riku had _kissed _me.

Even if it was just an innocent kiss on the cheek.

* * *

**DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN! **

**Lol. That was fun.**

**Hope you liked the chappie! Didn't turn out like I thought it would…but that's a good thing.**

* * *

**SnEeK pEeK! DUN DUN!**

"_Sora's not feeling too good."_

"_I dig freakishly weird."_

_"When I was little, I always used to come up here when I was angry or sad."_

"_How come you've never shown me your boyfriend?"_

* * *

**Yeh. Drama, and stuff. **

**R&R! Etcetera, etcetera…**


	17. Winter Holidays: Stage 2

**A/N: My school year has come to an end. **

**I'm gonna miss all my friends. Especially my besties. They rock. They are the best friends I've ever had; they don't think my KH obsession is weird.**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, because Adam Levine sleeps in my closet. Nah, I do not own 'Never Gonna Leave this Bed' by Maroon 5, the song 'Haunted' by Taylor Swift, or the song 'About You Now' by the Sugababes. And I OBVIOUSLY don't own KH.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sora's my next door neighbor. Didn't see that coming._

"Uh…hey."

"Hi! Uh…wow…I had no idea we were neighbors."

"Y-Yeh…me neither."

_I _try _to teach Sora how to skate._

I spent nearly half-an-hour teaching him to be able to stand on his feet without falling over.

_And Riku asks me to dance._

He pulled me towards him, his free hand settling on my waist.

My heart started pounding—fast.

"Dance with me?"

_And I think…I think Riku might like me!_

It was amazing how just five seconds of the feel of his lips on my skin made me feel like lightning was surging through my veins.

_But I can't get my hopes up._

_Plus, I've got other stuff to focus on._

_Like my friendship with Sora, for example._

* * *

**Chapter 17: Winter Holidays—Stage 2**

The next morning, it was breezy out—it looked like it was going to be a good day.

After having a breakfast of cheese and toast (which I only took on weekends, by the way), I picked up my bookbag and headed next door to Sora's house.

I _still_ couldn't get over the fact that I lived right _next _to him.

I waited a bit, and then Roxas opened the door. He looked like he was just about to go out; he had his skateboard tucked under his arm. "Uh…hi."

"Hi." I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. "I-Is Sora in?"

"Sora's…not feelin' too good," he replied impassively. "But you can go up and meet him if you want."

"Th-thanks," I stammered as he let me passed. He nodded briskly before heading out the door.

The house was quiet; I assumed Sora was sleeping. The television was off, but the house was still as messy as it was the last time I'd been there. I headed to the kitchen to check if his Mum was there; she wasn't, which was explained by the note on the fridge which said 'Gone out. Be back at nine. xxx Mom'.

Not really knowing what to do, I decided to head upstairs like Roxas asked me to. The stairs creaked on the way up. The paint on the walls was peeling; my Mum would have insisted that their house was in desperate need of an extreme makeover if she had seen the state of it.

Roxas hadn't really told me where Sora's room was, but it didn't take me that long to find it. I stumbled on a bathroom and a master bedroom before finally landing on their room. Several photos of them were nailed onto the door, along with a sign that read "SORA AND ROXAS' ROOM".

I figured Sora was sleeping, and tried not to make too much noise. That failed when the door made a large creaking noise as I pushed it open.

His room was a mess, which wasn't really a surprise. There was a pile of what seemed to be dirty laundry near the window. The curtains were closed. On one side of the room was a bunk bed, and on the other was a single bed. There were too large speakers next to the bunk bed, connected to someone's iPod. Posters of rock bands such as _My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds to Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day _and_ Breaking Benjamin _were scattered all over one of the walls. There were glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, along with a pile of paper next to Sora's bookbag. I noticed my ribbon was still laced through it, and held back a blush of pride. There was a bronze guitar lying in the corner next to the speakers, along with a pile of CDs.

My eyes moved back to the single bed. There was a large, Sora-sized lump under the covers. "Sora?"

It squirmed, and I heard Sora yelp.

"What?" I whined, slightly disappointed. I approached his bed, making sure not to trip on anything. "It's just _me_."

"Y-You can't see me like this," mumbled the lump. I had to strain my ears to hear through the duvet. "I look horrible."

I giggled dismissively as I sat down on the bed. "Of course you don't—"

My words died in my throat as he lowered the duvet. His cerulean eyes were swollen, his nose was flushed red and running, his cheeks were flushed from coughing, and it looked like fireworks had set off in his hair. He looked…horrible.

But still adorable, of course. Especially when he pouted.

I didn't really know what to say. "Okay you do."

Sora groaned and covered his face with his pillow.

"B-But you still look adorable!" I tried.

"Go away. I'm tired."

I didn't really know what to do. I looked around and got up off the bed, the only sound in the room being the sound of Sora's sniffs. He sniffed louder and I scrunched my nose in disgust. "You sound like you need a hankie."

I rummaged in my bookbag and pulled out a packet of face tissues. I pulled out one and handed it to him, and he raised an eyebrow at the color.

I pouted. "I like the color green."

He shook his head dismissively before blowing his nose. I tried not to look _too _disgusted, especially as he started blowing louder.

"You really are sick," I observed.

He rolled his eyes. "And it's all thanks to you for dragging me to that…thing yesterday."

The way he said it made me feel even worse for abandoning him alone in the rink. And it was all because I was busy with Riku. Though Sora seemed to be having enough fun with _his _friends. Especially Penelo.

I thought about asking him about that, but decided against it.

I sighed, patting him on the head. "I know. I'm sorry." I smiled. "Which is why, to make up for it, I'm gonna keep you company for the whole of today."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

This is how we spent our first Monday of Winter hols.

At first we hung around Sora's room, since he was apparently too weak to get up. After bringing him breakfast, we did some puzzles while chatting casually about trivial things, did some holiday homework and sang along absently to songs that played on the radio.

He never brought up the kissing-Penelo-at-the-Bash subject though. So I figured if he wasn't going to tell me, I wasn't going to tell him.

Sora's Mum came home while we were still upstairs, and she had left by the time we'd finished all the puzzles. Sora admitted he was strong enough to get up, and we decided to watch some movies. I went and fetched some of mine and we went through my whole Korean romance collection along with my other romance movies. Sora was surprisingly immune to _The Notebook_; he didn't even cry once! I take back what I said about him being girly.

After we'd finished, we went through Sora's Disney collection. It was surprising how many he had. Some of them I didn't even recognize. He even had Winnie the Pooh movies. I managed to discover _The Aristocats_, _Lady and the Tramp_, and _The Fox and the Hound_.

We were halfway through Tarzan when my phone rang. I was a little reluctant to answer it (we'd gotten to the scene where Tarzan meets Jane, and Sora said that if you miss that scene, you've missed out on the whole movie) but I perked up when I saw who it was. _Riku_.

"H-Hello?" I gave Sora an apologetic smile, but he just shrugged in understanding.

"_Hey, Kai. It's me. You sleep well?_"

"Um…yeh," I giggled.

"_So…what's up?"_

I didn't really know how to answer, but settled on: "At Sora's. Watching…a movie."

"_Cool."_ He paused. _"I was thinking…d'you mind going out to the beach on Thursday?" _

"Uh…next week?" I glanced at Sora, who was eating his popcorn. I suddenly had an idea. "Um…okay. Great."

I could hear his smile. _"Great. Uh…see you on Thursday."_

"See ya then." I hung up and slipped the phone into my pocket, turning to Sora. "That was Riku."

He made a noncommittal sound. "No kidding."

I giggled nervously, not really liking his tone. I prodded him on the shoulder. "_And_ he wanted to invite us to the beach next week."

Sora stared at me incredulously. "Us?"

"Well, not really." I sighed. "But I'm taking you along anyway."

He stuffed popcorn in his mouth. "And why would you do that?"

"You're my best friend, silly," I giggled. "And, plus…" I sighed. "…I figured if you two hung out you'd stop hating each other so much."

He didn't seem to take it seriously. "Kairi, I don't _hate _him…"

"Well, you don't really like him either," I snapped. "And, plus, he doesn't seem to think any better about you."

Sora sighed, turning to me. "Kairi, Riku and I just don't mix, okay? The only reason we seem to be getting along fine is because…well, because I'm friends with you."

I didn't get it. "And what's so special about me?"

He looked back at the TV. "Well…you're popular."

I stole some of his popcorn, looking at him expectantly. I didn't get it. "And you're not?"

He jutted his shoulders up in a shrug. "Well, I wasn't before you came along. And I'm nowhere near your level."

"But doesn't that mean that, since I hung out with you, I should've become unpopular or something?" I frowned. "That makes no sense at all."

"Well, you're just impossible not to like." He grinned at me with his lady-killer grin. I felt my heart race at the intensity of his look. "Even being friends with someone as freakishly weird as me isn't enough to stop people liking you."

"You're not freakishly weird!" I retorted. He raised an eyebrow, and I sighed. "Okay, so you are freakishly weird." I grinned at him, ruffling his spiky hair fondly. "But so what? I dig freakishly weird."

And I meant it. Sora truly was one of a kind.

He grinned back at me. It was hard not to grin back.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Namine was there when I got back that day—surprisingly.

Mum wasn't back from work yet (she'd recently gotten a job at a mall from one of her old friends), so it was a little weird that Namine was in.

She was playing the piano, a hushed, soft tune. As I approached, her voice got louder. I smiled; it had been so long since I'd heard her voice.

"_Hold—holdin' my breath_

_Won't—lose you again,_

_Somethin's made your eyes go co-old!_"

I deposited my bookbag by the stairs and headed along the corridor to the piano room—the room I rarely visited these days since I was always so busy with Sora. I made sure not to make too much noise so as not to interrupt her.

"_Come on, come on,_

_Don't leave me like this—_

_I thought I had you figured out;_

_Something's gone too long_

_You're all I wanted…_"

I held back a smile as she came into view. Her ash blonde hair was slicked over her right shoulder, shading her baby blue eyes as she leaned over the piano, singing softly. The door was ajar, but she apparently hadn't noticed me yet.

"_Come on, come on,_

_Don't leave me like this—_

_I thought I had you figured out;_

_Can't breathe whenever you're gone_

_Can't turn—back—now—_

_I'm haunted!_"

Her voice broke on the last word, and her fingers stopped moving on the piano. My smile turned into a worried frown. Her tiny body trembled, and she took small, hitched breaths inward. It took me a while to realize she had started crying.

I realized I couldn't just watch her cry, so I thought of pretending I wasn't there and heading upstairs. Of course, I just had to trip and bump my foot on the wall. "Ouch!"

A sniff. "K-Kairi? I-Is that you?"

_Crap_.

I realized it was too late to pretend anymore. "Y-Yeah! Hi, Nam!" I acted like I'd just come back from Sora's and walked back into the piano room.

Namine was rapidly wiping at her damp cheeks. "H-How was Sora's?"

I tried to act oblivious. "It was great. We talked, watched movies, did homework…and stuff." I sat down on the old beanbag we never used that was propped against the wall. Namine nodded quietly and started fiddling with her torn faded jeans. She still insisted on wearing the same old, plain old clothes she had before. Eric wasn't as well off as my Dad, so she couldn't afford the same clothes as me. I had offered to get her some as a present with my pocket munny (my mum would have been overjoyed that we were getting closer if I told her), but she had said no.

"What about you, Nam?" I probed. "What have _you _been up to?"

She blushed, lowered her blonde head. "Nothing really…"

"I heard you playing the piano," I prodded. She looked away nervously. "You haven't played in a while."

She nodded, shifting uncomfortably on her seat.

"I haven't either. Hey!" I got to my feet. "I've got an idea! Why don't we sing that song we always used to sing?"

Namine stared blankly at me as I sat down next to her on the old bench. Giving her a warm smile, I positioned my fingers over the keys, getting familiar with them. I hadn't played much since that time I'd auditioned for the school play; I hoped I still knew how to play our song.

"You ready?" I didn't wait for an answer, and started to play.

"_It was so easy that night_

_Shoulda been strong, yeah, I lied_

_Nobody gets me like you_…"

I closed my eyes, feeling the nostalgia of home flooding my thoughts as I pressed my fingers deftly on each note. The song was still clear in my mind—surprisingly.

"_I know everything changes_

_All the cities and faces_

_But I know how I feel about you_…"

I gave Namine a smile, signaling her to join in, but all she did was stare blankly at the piano and nibble on her lip. Holding back disappointment, I continued.

"_There's a mountain between us_

_But there's one thing I'm sure of_

_That I know how I feel about you_…"

"_Can we bring yesterday back around?_

_Cos I know how I feel about you now_…"

I tried not to mess up on the piano as Namine suddenly started singing along. Her eyes were closed, the long lashes I'd always been jealous of brushing her pallid cheeks. My heart felt like it was about to burst in joy.

"_I was dumb, I was wrong, I let you down_

_But I know how I feel about you now_…"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Thursday eventually came.

I was a bit unsure about what to wear, since Riku hadn't really told me what we were going to be doing at the beach, or how many people were going to be there. He'd asked me if I wanted to go with _him_—i.e. him and him alone, but that was pretty much all I knew.

I settled on wearing my Abercrombie hoodie and some dark navy jeans with my UG boots. I hoped I wasn't overdressed.

After quickly putting on some basic make-up, I headed next door to Sora's to pick him up. He was wearing a coat, a sweater and a threadbare scarf. His nose was still flushed pink, but he wasn't coughing anymore, which was good. He'd been recovering from his cold remarkably fast—or maybe it just seemed like it since I went to visit him every day.

"Ready?" I asked. He nodded mutely, covering his nose with his scarf.

It wasn't that long a walk from our neighborhood to the beach. I was getting pretty scared I'd picked the wrong beach or something when I spotted him.

He was wearing a tartan coat that suited him surprisingly well; it brought out the color of his eyes. He smiled when he saw me, but it quickly disappeared when he saw Sora.

"Oh. Hey Kairi." He gave me a brisk smile before turning to Sora with an icy glare. "And…Sora."

"Glad to see you too, Riku," Sora mumbled dryly into his scarf, giving Riku a dull smile. Riku rolled his eyes, and they started a glaring contest.

My plan to help them become closer friends suddenly seemed like a very, very bad idea. I nibbled nervously on my lip, unsure of what to do to make them stop.

"So, Riku!" I chirruped, attempting to lighten up the atmosphere. "What's so important that makes you bring us to the beach in the middle of winter?"

Riku sighed, turning his cyan-aquamarine eyes to me. "Well…I was thinking of, you know, going for a walk…" His eyes hardened as he looked back at Sora. "…but I didn't know _he_ was gonna be here so…"

He used the tone someone would normally use when talking about an insect. I noticed Sora's fists clench. He looked pretty fed up. "Don't worry, I won't get in your way or anything," he snapped coldly before turning on his heels and heading down to the shore.

I attempted to call after him, but it was really breezy and I doubted he heard me. Watching him trudge down to the pier, I sighed sadly.

"That's right—fuck off," I heard Riku mutter under his breath.

I snapped. "What is _wrong _with you? Can't you _ever _be nice?"

Riku stared blankly at me, surprised. "Huh?"

"You don't _have _to be so mean!" I shrieked, livid. "It's not like he wanted to come in the first place! _I _invited him!"

"And why the hell did you do that?" He griped, jade eyes exasperated. "I did kind of ask _you _to come with me to the beach, not—"

"I invited him because I wanted to, okay?" I felt tears pricking at my eyes now. I wiped angrily at them, not wanting to start blubbering babyishly in front of him. I'd already made a fool of myself by yelling at him. I inhaled deeply, looking at the ground. "Sora's my best friend, and he's a really nice guy. I don't get why you all hate him so much—I j-just thought that if I left you guys alone you'd somehow end up becoming friends or something…I don't know." I laughed bitterly. "That's just wishful thinking, I guess."

It was quiet for a while, the only sound being the harsh sea breeze.

Then Riku said: "Fine. I'll…I'll go tell him I'm sorry."

I looked up at him quizzically. "R-Really?"

He raked his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I mean, if it's really that important to you."

My heart swelled excessively. "Th-thank you…that means a lot to me."

Riku met my gaze and gave me a brilliant, million-dollar smile. "Don't mention it. I mean…" He sighed again, the wind whipping at his glistening hair. "…I kinda owe him an apology anyway."

Without thinking, I jumped him and pulled him into a hug. I was immediately immersed in his unique scent, and it was hard not to get lost in it. I was pulling away when I felt his arms close around my back.

I was drowning. "R-Ri—"

"Ssh," he whispered. "Just…please. A little longer…okay?"

I couldn't help but nod.

I wasn't sure how long we stayed that way. I lost track of time. My heart was thudding precariously against my chest, and I was so close I could hear _his _heartbeat as well. It was cold out, but it felt unusually warm.

It couldn't have been that long because when I eventually pulled away the sun was still up.

I looked up to see Riku looking down at me, eyes half-closed and lips idly apart. He looked like he was high on something, but for some reason his expression made my heart race.

"U-Uh…" I stepped backwards, widening the space between us. I giggled nervously. "Uh—I'll go get us some drinks from Starbucks, 'kay? It's just down the road, right?"

He nodded wordlessly, lips set in a sad smile. "Yeah. Don't get lost. We'll be waiting."

"Right," I acquiesced, before turning on my heels and heading up the beach to the coffee shop.

* * *

I'd just _hugged_ Riku! I liked where this was going.

I squealed happily, attracting attention from random people in the shop.

Great. I'd just made a full of myself.

I patted my cheeks, trying to rid the developing color. So far, Riku had kissed me on the cheek, Riku had hugged me, Riku had asked me 'out'. Sorta. Did that…did that mean that Riku _liked _me?

I held back the urge to squeal. I knew I was acting totally fangirlish—something very rare to me.

I inhaled deeply to calm myself down. I was overthinking. Riku had just hugged me because…well. I didn't really know. But it can't have been because he _liked _me liked me. I mean, come on—he'd gone out with Rikku, and Lenne, and _Yuna_. How could I have stood a chance? I wasn't a match for them. Me, with my lion-like red hair and my weirdish-colored eyes and my horrible, horrible past that would come up and haunt me at the randomest times and—

"Welcome to Starbucks Coffee; how may I help you?"

I blinked out of my reverie to find that the queue had moved and I was in front of the lady at the counter. She had pretty blue eyes and short black hair, and she looked _way_ too cute to be working at a coffee shop.

"O-Oh, u-um…" I looked up at the options and chose without thinking: "A Frappuccino, a Cappuccino and a hot chocolate, please."

"Coming right up!" She chirruped, her bobbed black hair bouncing as she prepared the order. I absently rapped my fingers on the counter as I waited, humming an old tune. She smiled as she returned with the three drinks. "There you go!" She plopped them on the counter with a smile and quickly tapped on the cash register. "That'd be twenty munny."

I handed her the required sum and picked up the drinks without difficulty. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it!" She waved, her blue eyes bright and shining. So much like Sora's eyes. "Sayoonara!"

I shook my head dismissively, a smile on my face as I exited the coffee shop. Some people were just naturally happy.

I secretly wished there were more people like the Girl-at-the-counter and Sora. People like that lit up the world.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

This might be hard to believe, but if not for Sora…I probably would have tumbled back into depression already.

Sometimes, when I was all alone, the memories would come flooding back. The times were rare, but they were still there. A trauma that serious doesn't leave easily. It stays etched in your mind, scraping at your insides, chewing away at your sanity, threatening to leave you as an empty shell, ignoring those all around you.

Well, it was the second week of winter holidays—mid/late December, the week before Christmas. The sky was pretty clear, and Namine and I were eating breakfast when Mum and Dad came downstairs, dressed up in going-out clothes.

"Uh…am I missing something?" I asked, confused. I spooned some more muesli into my mouth, crunching.

"We're going Christmas shopping!" Mum announced, glancing at Namine. It was obvious she was trying to get a reaction out of her. Namine used to _love _the Christmas shopping part of the Christmases she spent with us. Whenever Mum would announce this, Namine would start squealing and jumping up for joy.

Today, though, Mum got no reaction. I think we all expected that, anyway.

"S-So…" Mum cleared her throat, clearly disheartened by Namine's reaction—or non-reaction in this case. "…we won't be back until tomorrow afternoon."

"What?" I nearly choked on my muesli. "How can you two shop until past _midnight_?"

"My thoughts exactly," Dad grunted, massaging his temples.

Mum gave Dad a scolding glance. "You _know _why, honey. I heard from one of my friends at work that the shopping centre at the South End attracts a lot of foreigners i.e. it can get _very _busy. She says the best time to shop is from eleven to two o'clock in the morning, when most of the tourists are asleep."

The whole thing sounded pretty retarded to me, but I nodded in understanding. "Right. So you two are, in other words, going on an all-night shopping spree."

"The only reason I agreed to do this is cause your mother wouldn't stop naggin' me 'bout it," Dad grumbled, giving Mum a glare. It was obvious he was teasing, though.

Mum gave Dad a smile in response, heading over to the fridge as she picked up her bag. "There's dinner in the fridge, and heat up something for lunch." She brought out what I supposed were sandwiches and put them in her bag, along with two bottles of water. Then she closed the fridge and kissed us both on the forehead. "I'll see you girls tomorrow evening, okay? Be good. Kairi, take care of your sister."

I nodded; all I could do was nod.

"No house parties, no boyfriends sleeping over, got it?" Dad said as he prepared to follow Mum out the door. "If I come back and find out one of you is pregnant, I'm chucking you outside."

"Cid!" Mum hissed sharply, pulling him by the arm. She gave us both a warm smile. "Love you!"

And then she shut the door behind her.

It was quiet in the kitchen, apart from the sounds of munching, the sound of the fridge humming, and the faint noise of the car veering out of the driveway.

I swallowed the last of my muesli and turned to Namine. "So…we're home alone, huh?"

Namine nibbled on her piece of burnt toast quietly, but gave a tiny nod.

"Hehe…so…how about we watch some movies today?" I suggested. "I've borrowed a few Disney movies from Sora, if that's what you'd like, and I've still got some of those Korean romance—"

"I'm going out tonight, actually." Her voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear her. "With…s-some of my friends."

"R-Really?" I tried not to sound to hurt. "Oh. Okay…well when you come back we could have a stake out and—"

She shook her head. "Actually…I'm sleeping over…at my boyfriend's…"

I couldn't hold back a sigh of disappointment. "Oh…" I frowned. And then I asked: "How come you've never shown me your boyfriend?"

She froze mid-chew. "Uh…he's not really much of a p-people person…"

I stood up and cautiously went to sit next to her. "Namine…is there something wrong?"

She opened her chapped lips, closed them again, lowered her head. "N-No."

I gave her a long, hard look before sighing. "Namine. I'm—I'm worried. I want to help you, but you're making this really hard for me." My voice cracked at the last word, and I had to swallow to focus on _not _bursting into tears of exasperation. "Please. I know what it's like to—to think no one else understands…trust me. I've been through that before."

Namine's head shot up. Her eyes widened. "Wha—?"

"Why do you think I suddenly stopped sending you letters every week? Why do you think I stopped calling? Why do you think my parents stopped inviting you over?"

"Th-that…I thought…" She fumbled with her words, not knowing what to say.

"I…I fell into a depression, Nam. I felt…like I was in a big rut, and that no one could help me out of it." I turned to her and smiled. "But…eventually I realized that people outside might not understand, but they want to help." I took a deep breath, feeling my heart pounding faster as the memories threatened to come sweeping back. "I…I've never told anyone the real reason…why. B-But…I think that was my mistake. If I did…I would have been able to be helped a whole lot better."

"Wh-what do you mean?" She murmured, blue eyes wide. "I…I don't understand…what happened to make you—"

"I'll tell you, Nam." I swallowed. "One day. When you're ready to tell me what's wrong."

Her teeth worried on her bottom lip as she lowered her blonde head. "I…"

"Don't worry," I said, patting her on the head. "You don't have to tell me _right now_…just…don't try and hold it all in. It's a whole lot worse."

I wasn't the one to talk, seeing as I hadn't told anyone about my problem yet, but…I figured that was the only way to get to Namine. If I told Namine my problem and she told me hers, we'd probably be able to comfort each other—I didn't know.

It was worth a shot.

She nodded slowly, stood up from the table. "I'm…I have to go now."

I watched her pick up her art satchel, pull on her sneakers, leave.

"Bye…"

* * *

The house suddenly seemed sinister and dark, an ominous vibe cloaking the house. I felt my heart thudding dangerously fast, and realized I'd die if I stayed home alone—by myself.

Licking my lips, I thought back to what my Dad had said.

"_No house parties, no boyfriends sleeping over, got it?"_

No _boyfriends_ sleeping over…

Dad never said anything about _best _friends…

* * *

"Oh, hey Kai."

I'd never really liked that nickname. It made me sound like some kind of Pokemon animal. But Sora and Riku used it, and I had a feeling it had kind of gotten stuck, so I didn't protest.

Anyway, Sora didn't look that surprised to see me. I couldn't hold back a smile as he opened the door, though—I felt that whole homey vibe from just _looking _at him.

"My mum and Dad are out Christmas shopping over at the South End so they won't be back till tomorrow afternoon so…" I bounced on the balls of my feet, trying not to sound too anxious. "Do you mind sleeping over at mine?"

His eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs. "What?"

_Well. So much for not looking anxious_. "Um, well…I'm kinda scared of being alone…" I held back a blush. "…and Namine won't be here cause she's out this weekend…somewhere."

He arched one of his dark eyebrows. "You mean…your parents aren't in?"

"Nope."

"And neither is Namine?"

"Nuh-uh."

"So you're…alone?"

"Mm-hmm."

He nodded slowly, as if considering the offer. I gave him a pleading look, and he seemed to succumb to it.

He shrugged. "Of course I can come over. I mean, Zack's off on another business trip and Mum's working late. I can just leave her a note on the fridge and that'll be okay. Plus, you live right next door."

"Great!" I practically squealed. "See you this evening, then!"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Okay, so I admit I did go a bit over-the-top sprucing the place up before he arrived. It's just that whenever I _wasn't_ doing something, the house would feel too quiet, and then I'd feel suddenly alone and empty and I'd suddenly feel like I was drowning in the vast nothingness of—yeah.

"You're really living it large, Kai."

I beamed as I watched him fill his cup with The-Drink-that-Shall-Not-Be-Mentioned. Complete with marshmallows and cream, and everything. I tried not to look like I was inwardly craving for a cup of The-Drink-That-Shall-Not-Be-Mentioned.

He sipped on his drink while I fiddled with my glass of strawberry milkshake. "Maybe, but nothing compared to Yuna. Do you know what she got for her birthday? An iPad2. _And_ a car."

(Which was true, by the way.)

He inhaled sharply. "That's just sick."

"I know right?" I brought the glass to my face, just as Sora did the same. When he lowered it, I had to struggle not to spit out a large portion of strawberry milk. And then I burst into laughter.

Sora tilted his head quizzically, blinking in confusion. "What?"

"Y-Y-Your face!" I hiccupped, you know, in a very lady-like fashion.

Sora's eyebrows pushed together as he struggled to understand that I was talking about the huge blob of whipped cream he'd left standing on his nose. He looked like some kind of warped version of Rudolph crossbred with a unicorn. "My face? What's wrong with my face?"

I struggled to stifle my laughter. "You…you've got cream all over your…" I reached out and used my thumb to wipe of the cream from his nose in one swift motion.

It was then that I realized how startlingly blue Sora's eyes were. Not that I hadn't known he'd had blue eyes before, but…now I was _really _looking at them, up close. And they looked so…so…_blue_.

My hormones were racing. My eyes moved down to his lips again, and my fingers trailed their way down his face, his cheeks, his lips. I didn't know what I was doing, and I had a feeling that I was about to do something really stupid—

_BRIIING!_

I sprang up from my position (i.e. on Sora's lap—and don't ask _how the hell_ I got there) and cleared my throat, feeling my cheeks warming up in a blush. "I-I'll go…get that…"

I turned on my heels and headed down the hall to the land phone. I slapped my cheeks repeatedly, trying to get a hold of myself. I'd totally lost control there. I didn't even know _what _had happened. One second I was wiping Sora's nose and the next minute I was practically straddling him.

I buried my head in my hands. "What is _wrong _with you, Kairi? You're crushing on _Riku_!" I sighed. "Sora's just your best friend. Nothing more than that, right?" I nodded fervently. "What happened back there…that was just the hormones acting up…that's normal, right?" I struggled to shake away the color from my rapidly reddening cheeks. "Get a hold of yourself, Kairi!"

I eventually reached the phone and picked it up, bringing it to my ear. "Hello, Price Residence—how may I help you?"

"_Do you seriously say that every time you answer the phone?" _

I couldn't help but smile. "Yes, Dad. Actually, I do. It's reflex, I guess."

"_Right. Just wanted to say we've arrived at the South End, like, check'd into th'hotel and all that. You're Mom's goin' crazy makin' sure she ain't forgotten anythin'—you know how she like." _

I nodded sympathetically. "Ah. Well. Good luck, Dad. And please can you remind Mum that, no, I _don't _want another pair of boots this Christmas?"

"_Sure will,"_ Dad chuckled from the other end. _"Well…just wanted to make sure you were alright. Namine okay?"_

"Yup!"

"_Canna speak to 'er?"_

I hesitated. "U-Uh…she's asleep."

"Aw. Pity. Well…tell her we called when she's up. Gotta go help your Mom find her towel."

I giggled. "Okay. G'night."

"Night."

He hung up and I sighed, putting it back on the receiver. I felt guilty—even if it was just a little white lie.

I headed back to the kitchen, but Sora was already in the living room. He was at the television, inserting a movie. "Brought Alice in Wonderland. You game?"

I admit, I was slightly disappointed that he hadn't been affected by the weird moment we'd just had. But at the same time, I was relieved.

And plus—we were only best friends.

Best friends didn't really care about that sort of thing.

Right?

Maybe it had been so long since I'd had one that I didn't really know how to be one anymore.

* * *

Sora ended up falling asleep halfway through the movie, so I had to switch it off and take him upstairs to his room.

I took him to the unused guest room, while he groggily rubbed his eyes. He gave me a sleepy grin and said goodnight before closing the door.

I stared at the door for a while before going to my room.

* * *

It rained that night.

Have I ever told you how I have a phobia of thunderstorms?

Well. Now you know.

I tossed and turned and hid as deep as I could under the duvet, covering my ears with my pillow to try and block out the horrible crackling and booming sounds. I frequently ended up screaming into my pillow, trying to calm down my racing heartbeat.

Whenever I found myself very nearly drifting into slumber, I'd suddenly feel the ghost of His fingers roaming my body, His lips burning my ear, His teeth on my skin.

And then I'd swear never to close my eyes ever again.

It was nearly two a.m. when I decided I'd had enough. Without thinking, I clambered out of bed and padded down to Sora's room. I was about to knock on the door when my conscience kicked in. Or whatever the voice in my head was called.

_What are you DOING, Kairi? You're in your _pajamas_._

And that was true. I _was _in my pajamas. And not just any pajamas—the lacy nightgown that used to belong to Mum. The one that showed off my boobs. Like, all of it.

_But I have my blanket_, I argued.

_Yeah…but Sora's a GUY. You can't just waltz in there and ask to sleep with him! How do you think he'll take that?_

I hesitated, not really knowing what to think. I was tempted to drop the stupid idea and head back to my room.

And then thunder struck, and I decided I didn't really care anymore.

I turned the doorknob and opened the door, wincing at the creaking sound it made. "Sora?"

It was quiet for a while, apart from the pouring rain and ominous thunder outside.

And then: "Hnn?"

"C-Can…c-can I stay here…with you?" I didn't care that I sounded so urgent.

I vaguely saw Sora nod. And then, as I was rushing over to his bed, lightning struck.

I screamed, leaping blindly onto the bed and falling on top of Sora with an 'OOF!'.

I heard him grunt in pain as I dug my nails into his arms, trying hard not to scream any louder. "You're scared of thunderstorms."

I could practically _hear _him smirking. "No…" I didn't want to sound like a baby—I mean, I was almost seventeen for fucksake!—but then the sky crackled again and I had to hold back a scream. I saw it was pointless arguing. "…I mean, yes."

Sora had the audacity to _laugh_.

"It's not _funny_." I frowned, hurt. "I have problems with thunderstorms. So sue me."

It was then that I noticed the completely awkward position we were in, and clambered off. I was glad the room was dark so he wouldn't see my flushed face.

Sora lifted the duvet courteously to let me in, and I lay down next to him. I blushed fruitfully as I realized something.

I was in the same bed as my best friend.

I was in the same bed as a guy.

I was in the same bed as _Sora_.

"Sora?" I whispered, hoping he could hear me over the rain.

"Hmm?"

I struggled with my sentence. "…are…are you sure this is okay? Me s-sleeping here, I mean?"

"Why wouldn't it be? It's a lot less scary when you're not alone, right?" I could almost hear his smile. I froze as he leaned in, his nose brushing my neck, and inhaled deeply. "And plus—you smell nice."

My face erupted into flames, but by now I was too drowsy to care. Sora was quiet, and I suspected he'd fallen asleep.

I knew what I needed.

A lullaby.

Which was why, in a totally ADD moment (which I'm not really supposed to get since I don't have ADD), I grabbed his arm and said: "Sing to me. Please."

Surprisingly, he did.

"~_You push me_

_I don't have the strength to_

_Resist or control you_

_Take me down _

_Take me down …_"

I snuggled in closer, taking in his peppermint scent; it was making me drowsier.

"_You hurt me_

_But do I deserve this?_

_You make me so nervous_

_Calm me down_

_Calm me down_…"

I fell asleep to the sound of his heavenly voice, not really caring that sleeping in the same bed as your best friend wasn't normal.

* * *

**PFFT. What the heck? **

**This chappie…well. I can't say is sucked, but it's just…bad.**

**It's one of those chappies I had to rewrite several times to get…well. Like this.**

**I am afraid that this might be the last update before the computer goes away and gets sold, since we're leaving after next week. **

**:(**

**Aw well. At least it's out. **

**I've spent this whole say writing this instead of studying for my exams which are on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this coming week, so you'd better leave me a review. xD**

**I'll probably try and chuck out an APO update before Wednesday. Can't promise anything, though.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chappie, and R&R.**

**NOTICE: CHECK OUT THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! **


	18. Firework

**A/N: NEW LAPTOP! WOOT! Now the updates're gonna be coming in quick! (Hopefully.)**

**In the time I've been away, I've managed to replay (well, my brother has managed to replay while I watched him play like a noob) FFVII: Crisis Core, and I'm starting to feel really guilty for how much of an ass I've made Zack. He doesn't deserve that… :(**

**But I've also figured out who Zack was 'cheating' on Aerith with. Teehee…**

**Superpeanutbutter: Haha I feel like I haven't written in ages. Yay for the comic! =D I don't think this story is ever going to disappear…unless I die or get destroyed by a hurricane of course. :P But you know. **

**Nicholas: Haha thanks…and I won't. **

**As for the rest of you…it's been a long time, and I have no idea if I've replied to your reviews or not. So…just let me know and I'll reply to every single one of them. **

**About this chappie: Some SoKai, New Years, and family development. Woohoo. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the songs used in this chappie.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Riku and I go on a sorta-date._

"I was thinking…d'you mind going out to the beach on Thursday?"

_And acts like a total dick._

"It's not like he wanted to come in the first place! _I _invited him!"

"And why the hell did you do that?"

_Namine has a problem…_

"Don't worry," I said, patting her on the head. "You don't have to tell me _right now_…just…don't try and hold it all in. It's a whole lot worse."

…_and I nearly kiss Sora._

My hormones were racing. My eyes moved down to his lips again, and my fingers trailed their way down his face, his cheeks, his lips.

_Not sure what that was about, but…_

* * *

**Chapter 18: Firework**

I was woken up the next morning by the blinding light peeking through the window. The next thing I was hit with was the deep peppermint smell, and how soft the bed felt. Not cotton-soft, sort of silk-soft…and smooth.

I breathed in deeply, slowly blinking my eyes open.

I could barely stifle my scream.

I was lying on top of _Sora_. _Sora _was in my house. _Sora _was sleeping in the same bed as me.

When the shock and utter horror of the situation had passed, I felt myself smile. Sora was snoring softly, and every so often he would mutter something incoherent under his breath. He looked ever _cuter _when he was asleep.

After a while of just staring at him, I realized that if I didn't do anything soon, Sora would wake up and realize…

I shuddered.

I intended on getting up and leaving the room as quietly as I could, but, as I should have known, I ended up slamming my foot against the bedside table, tripping over Sora's jeans, and screaming when I thought I saw a bug.

Thankfully, Sora was such a heavy sleeper that he didn't even notice.

Taking a deep breath and making sure there wasn't possibly anything else I could bump into, I headed back to my room.

I decided to make breakfast to cool down. Pancakes seemed pretty tempting.

I pulled out some eggs, milk, flour and sugar, and then I set to work making the pancakes. I'd been making pancakes for my family since I was a kid; whenever Mum wasn't around, there had to be _someone _in the house who had the ability to cook something edible.

After I was done, I headed back upstairs to clean up. I didn't wait to find out if Sora was still asleep and rushed to my room, stripping out of my embarrassing nightgown and washing myself clean.

I was going through my wardrobe when I realized Namine still wasn't back. Frowning, I checked my phone to see if she'd sent me a message.

None.

I sighed, hoping she'd get home before Mum and Dad got back.

After pulling on my most casual outfit, I decided to wake up Sora.

"Rise and shine—WHOA! "

I really should have knocked.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Five minutes later, I was hurriedly setting up the table, trying to keep myself busy to erase the image from my mind. I couldn't believe I'd walked in on Sora. Well, to be more specific, a half-_naked _Sora.

And it was worse than the last time—he was in nothing but _underwear_. Tight-fitting Kevlar underwear. And he was shirtless and his hair was all messy and he looked like he'd just come out of a porn movie.

My cheeks burned as I tried and failed to get the image out of my head. Sora wasn't the bulkiest guy (I mean, I'd seen Riku in Speedos), but it was just weird because he was my _best friend_. It was weird enough that I'd slept (in the literal sense) with my best friend, and now seeing him naked?

I nearly dropped the glass I was holding. I shook my head hurriedly, trying to will the color from my face.

I made sure everything was perfect before sitting down and deciding to just wait for him to come downstairs. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. It was just a mistake. It wouldn't really change our friendship, just make it even stronger.

_Ugh. That sounded so weird._

"Hey."

I gasped silently and felt my cheeks darken when I saw who the voice belonged to. Sora was standing at the door, tugging at the hem of his shirt. For a split-second I thought he was about to take it off, and I quickly averted my gaze.

He took a seat, rubbed the back of his neck. "…you made pancakes."

"Y-Yeh," I managed to find my voice. "You were taking way too long to wake up and I..." I swallowed, rephrasing my words. "…well, decided to surprise you."

"O-Oh..." He went silent for a bit, and then his eyes fell on the plate in the middle of the table. I stared in apprehension as he picked up a pancake off the top of the pile and brought it to his mouth. Then he took a humongous bite out of it, chomping noisily. He gave me a thumbs-up and drawled something incomprehensible.

"Yuck!" I grimaced in disgust, poking him scoldingly with my fork. "Don't talk with your mouth full. That's disgusting."

He shrugged, taking another horrifyingly large bite. "Ish a free world."

I frowned dissaprovingly, giving up on him. _Boys will be boys. _I began cutting through my pancake with a fork and a knife; the way _normal _people eat pancakes.

And then: "You are the biggest goody-two-shoes I've ever met."

I stopped short. "What?"

"You heard me." He rolled his eyes. "You act like you're dining with the Queen or something."

I glared at him for a while as he poured his orange juice. I didn't notice my jaw was dropped until it started aching. For some reason, hearing him say that was…dissapointing. And it kind of hurt me, too. "I-I...I can be wild too you know."

Sora really didn't look like he believed me at all. "Um. Right."

That was it. I had to show him I wasn't the buzzkill goody-two-shoes he thought I was.

Which was why, as he was reachign for the Nutella, I grabbed it, took a deep breath and dunked my finger in it. And then I put it in my mouth.

You know, for someone who was used to being mannerly and orderly for all her life…it felt pretty odd. And weird.

And _awesome_. I actually felt like eating Nutella right out of the can was actually a milestone, a lifechanging accomplishment.

Sora seemed to think differently. "HEY! Now there's gonna be all your spit in it!"

I shrugged, holding back a smile. "How's that for wild?"

He rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, huffed. "I've seen better."

My heart plummeted slightly as my small moment of accomplishment came to a sudden end. I frowned so hard I started to develop a headache. And then I had an idea.

I dumped my fingers into the Nutella and began to spread my pancake.

It felt _so _good.

"You really don't have to—" He stopped himself, which was a pretty smart move. After finishing, I picked it up and took the biggest bite I could manage.

When I'd made my way through the mouthful enough for me to speak, I managed to shout: "HOWZZAT?"

He chuckled in amusement. "Okay."

I reached a whole new level of dissapointment. Leave it to Sora to destroy my moment.

Before I could think, I poured myself some orange juice and flung it at his face.

He gasped, jumping in his seat. "WHAT THE HELL, KAIRI?"

I held back a giggle at his ridiculous expression. "Oops."

And then all hell broke loose.

We were at war, throwing pancakes, Nutella, orange juice, flour, baking soda, sugar—everything we could at each other. It was like the food-fight at the cafeteria—except better. For once, I didn't really care that we were making a huge mess.

And then I slipped and bumped my head. On the refrigerator.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"This is all your fault, you know that?" It hurt like hell; that was why I was so crabby. I'd made Sora mop up the floor while I had another shower, changed into clean clothes and treated my bruise.

"_My _fault?" He whined, pouting. "_You _were the one who started it."

"Only cause _you_ were being mean." I winced as the bump throbbed under the cold ice, cursing inwardly.

Sora sighed, returning to his task. His hair was still littered with potato salad (yeah, I'd taken that out of the fridge when the pancakes ran out), and his clothes were spattered with flour. He looked like some sort of clown.

Haha.

"So…" I cleared my throat, remembering something Penelo had told me. "…you going to see the fireworks?"

"You know about those?" Sora shrugged. "Mmm…I dunno. Maybe."

"You have to go." I frowned. Without Sora, the fireworks would just be…a bunch of dynamite exploding in the sky. "Penelo says it's the biggest annual sensation _ever_. Everyone else is going—even my parents. Please, Sora, you have to go as well…"

I loved fireworks almost as much as I loved singing, dancing and paddling in the Destiny Island beach, and I'd been looking forward to sharing it with Riku, Yuna, Lenne, the rest of the gang, and…Sora.

Back in the Garden, the end of year festivals weren't half as great as Penelo's description of the Island New Year festivals. In history, the Gardeners celebrated it in their own unique way—releasing floating lanterns into the sky—but it had been stopped nearly ten years prior to my birth ever since an accident involving a little kid, a lantern, and a forest fire.

Now people usually spent New Years with their families. It was nice, but it did nothing to help make the community more close-knit. In Destiny Islands, everyone seemed to have a smile on their faces. (Well, almost everyone, not counting the emos I'd encountered.) At the Garden…well, people were nice, but only if you'd done something nice for them, like done their groceries or cleaned their front yard.

Sora shrugged, mopping up dutifully. His chocolate-chestnut bangs swayed as he moved. "I usually just watch them on TV."

"But that doesn't make it any special," I protested immediately. "Riku says it's, like, a Destiny Island tradition or something." Well, he hadn't really, but I had to convince him somehow.

"That doesn't make it obligatory…"

Great. Now he was getting irritating. I huffed, dropping the icepack on the table. "Why do you have to act all grumpy all the time?" I sighed in exasperation. "Don't you know _anything _about fun? Cause it sure doesn't seem like it!"

I wanted to punch the indifferent look off his face. "Of course I do. Maybe my idea of fun is just different from yours."

"What _is _your idea of fun, huh?" I snapped heatedly. "Sleeping? Writing crappy stories? Wasting away your life watching stupid **Disney movies**?"

_Silence_.

Okay, so maybe I'd gone a bit too far with that one.

The guilty feeling worsened when I saw the look on his face. The indifferent look had gone, vanished completely. He looked so hurt it made me want to punch _myself. _I suddenly remembered how he looked the first time we'd actually really talked, in the infirmary after Drama Practice.

"U-Um…" I struggled to find the words to apologize, to fix everything. "I…I didn't mean—"

"I know," he muttered, cutting me off. His voice sounded so…off. "It's fine." He squeezed out the mop water and returned it too its case before heading over the the coat hanger.

My heart plummeted. "Hey. Sora."

I watched in distress as he pulled on his coat and pulled open the door. He gave me a false, weak smile. "I'd better get going. You know, before my Mom starts getting ideas."

I realized I was almost crying now. "Sor—"

He slammed the door behind him, cutting me off completely.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Sora ignored me for the rest of the week. I tried calling him, but he never picked up the phone, and the one time I attempted to go visit him, he was out grocery shopping. I didn't have the guts to try again, but the guilt kept eating at my insides. I started getting worried about just how much my words had hurt him.

I missed him, and for some reason every time I heard his name my heart twisted ever tighter. What was wrong with me? Why did I have to be a bitch and make it all awkward and wrong? Did I just lose the best friendship I'd ever had?

I didn't bother telling any of my friends about my problem. Yuna didn't really care that much for Sora, Rikku thought I was insane for being his friend, and Lenne just ignored me whenever he was brought up.

Riku was the best option, but it was rainy for most of the week and I had no idea where he lived.

And then New Years Eve arrived.

* * *

Yuna called on the evening of New Years Eve and said she'd be picking me up in an hour. I was contemplating whether or not to call in sick and stay at home, since Sora wasn't going. I'd lost all motivation to go to the firework show.

It was so frustrating I felt like crying.

But I decided I wasn't going to let one guy stop me from enjoying what I knew was going to be a huge sensation. Fireworks. I'd never seen any in real life, just on screen. And, by the way Penelo had described it, they seemed pretty awesome.

Namine was in my room painting when I came back from having my shower. She had just started a mixing in the colors, humming absently with her flaxen hair tied up in a ponytail, loose strands floating prettily by her cheeks. Her sleeves were slightly rolled up, revealing several makeshift bangles and bracelets. It was another one of those times when all I could do was admire with jealousy how amazing she looked.

"Hey, Nam," I greeted upon entering the room. "Doing some art again?"

She gave me a small nod, soaking her paintbrush with strawberry-gold paint. "Yeh."

I nodded. "Going to the fireworks?"

She shook her head slowly. "I…I don't think so. Roxas—" She stopped herself before she could finish her sentence. A smile crept up on my face as a blush crept up on hers. "I-I mean…" She turned away and furiously mixed some blue paint.

I decided not to pry, and instead just ruffled her blonde hair. "Okay, whatever you say, little sister."

I decided to get dressed then, pulling on a t-shirt and jeans while leaving my hair down. I couldn't be bothered to fix it up; for some reason, I just lost the will to.

_Wait. Since when did I have to dress up for_ Sora_? _

The bell rang, and I raced downstairs so I could open the door before my Mum did. I'd told my Mum I was going out for New Years (she'd lifted my ban after I'd kindly volunteered to wash her car _and _mow the lawn _and _tend to the flowers), but I didn't need her lecturing my friends about curfews and alcohol and premarital sex.

I nearly slipped and fell on the stairs like the klutz that I was, but I managed to regain my footing and answer the door.

It was Rikku, her hair exotically decorated with flowers and beads and feathers, donning a coconut bra and a grass skirt. I thought of informing her that it was winter, and that, usually, in winter, people didn't dress in grass skirts, but I decided against it.

"C'mon, Kai, we gotta bounce!" She pulled me by the arm, dragging me to Yuna's car, which was parked conveniently on the sidewalk. As I neared the car, I noticed they were all giving me weird looks. They were all scantily dressed, as if we were going to some frat party of pole-dancing club. Yuna was wearing tight leather, Lenne was wearing a see-through poncho-top and a tankini, and Rikku was dressed like a Hawaiian belly-dancer.

They all looked like they belonged in strip clubs. I felt pretty out of place, especially when Yuna asked if 'that was what I was wearing'.

I realized it was too late to go back inside and watch Namine paint.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We arrived at North beach in record time. The beach was so full I wondered if we'd ever find them.

Apparently that wasn't going to be a problem, since Yuna said the guys had reserved a booth at Paopu Palace. I had no idea what or where that was, so, sluggishly, I followed the rest of the girls. As we passed, the guys all gave them approving looks and whistles, while their eyes just passed over me. Some of them made sexual jokes about Rikku's coconuts, but she acted as if she was oblivious. They didn't say a word about me; it was as if I wasn't there.

I didn't really know how I felt about that. I'd always been grateful when people just ignored my prescence, but now…

I inwardly slapped myself. _Focus, Kairi. Since when did you crave sexual harassment?_

I realized my friends were starting to have an influence—bad or good—on me. In the past, I wouldn't even associate with girls like them, and now I was going to parties and drinking and doing all sorts of stuff I previously despised.

But with Sora, I could be myself. I didn't have to pretend I was having fun, I didn't have to do stuff I didn't want to, I didn't have to dress to impress, and I could eat anything I wanted to without being questioned.

I missed Sora.

I missed my best friend.

It was then that I realized how much of an idiot I'd been. I was probably one of Sora's best friends, and he felt I could tell him anything. (He apparently hadn't told any of his other friends about his obsession for Disney, because when I asked Penelo if Sora had 'The Princess and the Frog', she looked at me like I was insane.) And I'd totally betrayed him by mockingly rebuking him.

I felt so mean. So what if he didn't want to go see the fireworks? We could have stayed at home and watched it on TV and watched all the Disney movies he wanted. For all I know there could have been a sentimental reason why he didn't want to go. Probably he had a bad experience with fire, or he'd gotten bullied, or…

"Kairi?" Yuna called, snapping me out of my trance. "C'mon, stop lagging behind or you'll get lost."

Reluctantly, I headed after them.

We got to the Paopu Palace not too long after, but by then Yuna and Lenne had had to take off their strappy heels because of the sand. The Paopu Palace was magnificent, a seaside shack with paopus painted all over the walls, paopus hanging from the ceiling, decorating the roof…they were everywhere. There were paopu-shaped booths and a paopu-shaped disco ball, and scantily dressed waitresses scuttled around with plates of paopu fruit slices.

Before I could blink, the girls had already made it to the dance floor. I spotted Tidus and the other guys, but there was no sign of Riku. Losing all motivation to be there, I squeezed my way through the crowd to the bar. The bartender was wearing a paopu-shaped bikini top and a teeny grass skirt, and I inwardly wondered how she wasn't freezing to death.

She asked me something, but I couldn't hear through the raging party music. I asked for a Coca Cola Light and sipped it gingerly. Yuna, Lenne and the others were drinking like crazy, and I wondered how they managed to fake their age. On the Islands, drinking was illegal until the age of eighteen.

As the night dragged on, I realized more and more how slutty my friends were acting. They were all dancing outrageously, like how we were dancing at the Sectionals only a lot less choreographed. I spotted Lenne and Shuyin sucking their faces off against a wall, Lenne's hands in Shuyin's pants and Shuyin's hands up her poncho-top, and was trying to figure out whether they were drunk or not when someone pulled me harshly onto the dance floor.

Before I knew it I was in the middle of a crowd of moving bodies, the upbeat music blaring through the speakers. After a few minutes of struggling to find a way out, I realized it was futile. I wished I was at home, watching Namine paint or watching movies with Sora—anything but in a _club_.

But then I realized that it didn't matter. I could still _pretend _to be having fun. That would make time pass quicker, after all. According to the clock we still had an hour left until midnight.

So I began to dance, just swaying from side to side at first, and then I started getting into it, shaking my hips, wiggling my butt, pumping my arms, and then eventually I even started singing along. Okay, I must admit, I did start to have some fun. This wasn't my scene, but I decided it was blend in or…not blend in.

After ten minutes of dirty dancing (ugh), I was sweating all over. The spell I was in disappeared and I realized yet again that I was in a crowd of sweaty people.

And then it all started coming back. The haunting images—the blood-red eyes, the sweaty hands, the rough lips. The room suddenly felt dark and sinister, and I started to feel dizzy.

Someone grabbed my arm, and I screamed. It was probably impossible to hear me over the loud, fast music. Heart pounding, I struggled to snatch my arm away, clenching my free fist and readying a punch.

"Hey, hey!" My attacker yelled. "Slow down!"

I looked up and realized my attacker was not an attacker after all. It was Zidane, looking down at me with concerned brown eyes. "You okay?"

I stared at him, trying to balance my thoughts, to stop them from running all over the place. The terror still hadn't subsided. What if it hadn't been Zidane? What would I be able to do if it happened again?

"Kairi?"

I shook my head numbly, my fists still remaining clenched. "I…I need to go to the bathroom."

Before he could stop me, I pushed my way through the crowd, out the doors and into the fresh sea air.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The uneasiness in my stomach didn't disappear until I was halfway across the beach. And then I just felt guilty, guilty for trying to attack Zidane. I pressed my lips together to stop myself from crying, to stop myself from embarrassing myself in front of the hundreds of Islanders packed up on the beach.

I was starting to consider returning to Paopu Palace, since the girls would probably be looking for me and I was reaching the end of the beach, when I thought I spotted spiky hair.

I shook my head, thinking I was going mad, but then I saw them again. And then I saw his bright cerulean eyes, and his nose, and his mouth, and his arms, and—

"Sora?" I was already running, pushing myself faster, and then I was slammed against his chest, taking in his peppermint smell, squeezing him as hard as I could in a bone-crushing hug. I couldn't believe it; a huge wave of relief and happiness washed over me and I forgot completely why I'd been sad. I could feel his heart thumping against his chest.

"Kairi?" His throat rumbled as he spoke, and I was snapped out of my trance. I was acting way too weird, running up to him and randomly hugging him. He was my best friend and all, but that didn't stop it from being awkward.

"You came!" I pulled away and tried to look mad. Then, just to break the weird atmosphere, I kneed him in the gut.

He doubled over in pain, clenching his torso and trying to quench the pain. "OW! Kai_riiii_! What was _that _for?"

I struggled to keep the scowl on my face. "For making me…worried."

He frowned, still trying to hold back his pain. I regretted hitting him already. "Sorry about that."

My scowl disappeared, and the guilt came back. "No…_I'm _the one that should be saying sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that and…" I sighed, looking at him pleadingly. "Do you forgive me?"

He seemed to have forgotten the whole incident, because he just smiled freely at me, teeth and all. It was only then that I realized just how much I missed his smile. "Of course I do."

I ended up giggling in relief. All the bad case scenarios were nothing but my imagination going wild. I felt someone's eyes on me, and noticed a young-looking woman with long brown hair bonded in a long plait. I immediately recognized her as the woman in the photo album. "Oh, um, good evening Mrs. Aerith!" My eyes flitted to the man beside her, a handsome guy with dark spiky hair and greenish-blue eyes. I figured he was Zack, Sora's stepdad. It was amazing how young the both of them looked—at least in their late twenties. "And…Mr. Zack. I'm Kairi, and nice to meet you."

Aerith smiled warmly, and I realized Sora inherited her smile. "Hello." And then to Sora: "Sora, you never told me you had a girlfriend!"

It suddenly got really awkward. No one said anything, and I was still trying to get over the shock. She thought I was his _girlfriend_? That was just…weird.

Sora cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Sh-she's not my g-girlfriend."

"Really? Oh." Aerith looked confused, and Zack just chuckled dismissively, sitting down on the sand.

I decided to back Sora up, giggling to ease the tension. "Y-Yeh, Mrs. Aerith, I'm just his best friend."

"Oh." His mum blushed prettily in embarrassment. Roxas was lying down on the sand, hands behind his head, listening to music in his headphones. He looked up at me, searched behind me, and then went back to just lying on the sand. I figured he was looking for Namine.

Anyway, that wasn't why I was there. "You don't mind if I steal Sora away for a while, do you?"

Aerith seemed to debating with herself, but she eventually nodded.

Before Sora could react, I'd already started down the beach with him in tow.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The party was still raging when I got there. I almost regretted bringing Sora along; he apparently hadn't been to any parties in his life. Thankfully, I spotted Riku sitting at the booth he'd apparently reserved, his hair a glistening silver. My heartbeat speeded up when he smiled at me, but I managed not to embarrass myself by being a klutz.

Sora took his place at the booth, and I was about to sit next to him when I heard Yuna calling me. She had a really loud voice; the music was still blaring, even if the volume was lower. I told them I'd be right back, (though I regretted they heard me) and went to go answer Yuna.

She was smashed, undeniably, and she nearly fell onto me when I reached her. She wobbled on her heels, Tidus supporting her from behind. His cheeks were burning red, and I almost felt sorry for him. "He-eyyy, Kai-_ri_!" She waved in my face, hiccupping before turning back to Tidus. "He-hey, tell Tidus I sleep naked!"

"What?"

"I sleep naked, right? He won't _believe _me!" She started giggling uncontrollably, falling forward onto Tidus' chest. He moaned, gripping onto her arms to try to calm his hormones. I had a feeling the whole situation was way too uncomfortable for him. People were starting to look.

"Yuna, you're drunk," I heard him whisper.

"I am _so _not drunk!" She yelled loudly. "I am totally _SO-buuuur_."

Lenne arrived, thankfully, because I had absolutely no experience with drunks. The first time I'd drank alcohol was at Thanksgiving when I was ten, and even then it was only a sip. Nobody I knew had ever gotten themselves drunk on my watch.

Lenne's hair was all disheveled and her lips were swollen red, but at least she was still sober. She gave me an apologetic look and took Yuna by the arm. "Yuna. _Yuna_."

"Oh, Lenne, you're here! _Finally_." She hiccupped. "I'm hungry. I want some _meat_."

She growled at Tidus, and he just stared helplessly at her. Lenne pulled her back roughly. "Yuna. Focus. You're drunk."

Yuna just laughed manically, and Lenne sighed. She turned to me. "You can go, Kairi, I'll take care of this."

I nodded, gave Tidus an apologetic smile, and then retreated to the booth where Sora and Riku were waiting.

When I got there, Selphie was giggling helplessly, Sora was choking on something, and Riku had just ran outside.

I blinked in confusion, looking from Riku's retreating back, to Sora's red face, to Selphie chortling wildly. "What'd I miss?"

Sora covered his face with his hands, while Selphie struggled to explain through her laughs. "It's S-Sora a-a-and Riku! Th-they—HA—they j-just shared a pa-pa-PAOPU!"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I knew only too well what the legend of the paopu was—Namine had told me ages ago, and she even brought some with her whenever she used to come over.

So it wasn't long before I ended up laughing my ass off like Selphie. Riku came back blushing heatedly, and none of the boys refused to look at each other.

When Selphie went off to go spread the rumor to the others, I figured I'd cut them some slack. "Let's go outside."

Riku was already one step ahead of me, and Sora waited for me to follow him before he did. I figured he wanted to keep his distance from him.

Soon enough, we had reached the pier. Riku was talking with some girls at the shore, who all giggled flirtatiously. He smiled at them as they stood up and headed off to search for another place. His scowl reappeared when he saw Sora, and I sniggered.

We all sat down on the sand, me next to Sora, Sora next to Riku. "It's just a stupid legend…" Sora mumbled, hugging his knees. The blush had almost completely faded from his cheeks.

"Yeah, Sora's got a point," I added, trying to back him up. "It's just a myth…you know, it's not like you guys are _actually _gonna be 'intertwined'—"

I completely lost it there, bursting into laughter at how weird that sounded.

It took a while for me to recover from my laughing fit, and when I did, I decided to just enjoy the silence.

Almost immediately, Riku broke it. "For the last ten seconds, the Destiny Island tradition is to start a countdown."

"Really?" I asked. He nodded, the wind playing with his hair as he looked off into the sea.

"Well, you could put it that way," Sora added. "It actually all started when a bunch of teenagers had too much to drink twenty years ago. Since then, everyone thinks it's a tradition to countdown till the New Year."

"Haha, well." I laughed, falling back in the sand, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. And then I opened my eyes, and nearly drowned.

It was the sky, the deep midnight sky, and I felt like I was falling into it. I don't know what it was about the endless sky, but it lifted my spirits up, made me feel _happy_. "You guys! Try this!"

They both obeyed, falling down next to me.

"Wow…" Riku whispered, his voice strangely clear in the crowded beach. "I could get used to this."

I sighed blissfully, taking Sora's hand in mine. "I don't think I ever will."

"_Ten!_"

The countdown began, and we joined in, shouting at the top of our lungs.

"_Five!_

_Four!_

_Three!_

_Two!_

_One!_

_HAPPY TWO-THOUSAND-AND-ELEVEN!"_

Fireworks erupted in the sky, and I screamed in amazement. The all looked so _close_, as if they were right in front of me. I reached out, trying to touch the display, the colors brightening up the night sky. Here I was, lying on the sand, at the seashore, with the two best people I knew.

_Oh yeah, baby. This is SO much better than drinking my butt off. _

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

When I got home that evening, Namine was asleep, still holding her paintbrush. I smiled fondly at her, taking the paintbrush from her fingers before it stained the duvet and placing it next to her easel. As I tucked her in, I saw her painting.

It was a painting of Roxas, so professionally done it was hard to believe he wasn't real. His hair was a deep golden-orange color, and she'd perfectly painted his defined cheekbones and his dark blue eyes. She seemed to have spent ages on his lips, because they looked exactly like his real ones.

I smiled at her sleeping form. Even if she didn't know it yet, she was _so _in love with Roxas.

* * *

**Okay, so I kept debating whether I should make this chappie longer or not, and I ended up with not. It'll ruin the next one. But on the bright side, this story hasn't even gone halfway. **

**Some of the party songs playing were 'Loca' by Shakira, 'Break Your Heart' by Taio Cruz, 'Tonight' by Enrique Iglesias, and a bunch of fast BEP songs xD. **

**Well…R&R. Starting school next week, taking Computer Graphics, so I should have some art up on my dA when I learn how to do digital art. **

**Well…until next time! **


	19. Shadows

**A/N: So…yeah. **

**About the chappie: A bunch of Kai/Nam-ness. Seriously, I think their relationship needs to be explored a whole lot more. I know the time gaps are gonna be way annoying, but…I figured this side should be addressed. Don't worry—Kai will catch up with the boys later. xD Oh, and brace yourself for a whiny Kairi. Bleh. **

**Disclaimer: **_**~I got it from Nomura! **_**Haha that has GOT to be my greatest disclaimer yet. xD Oh, and I also disclaim the song 'I Got it From my Mamma', which I just used… :P**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I see Sora naked. Well, sorta._

He was shirtless and his hair was all messy and he looked like he'd just come out of a porn movie.

_We get in a fight._

The indifferent look had gone, vanished completely. He looked so hurt it made me want to punch _myself._

_We eventually make up, though. And we're all there watching the fireworks together._

Here I was, lying on the sand, at the seashore, with the two best people I knew.

_And Namine? Well…_

Even if she didn't know it yet, she was _so _in love with Roxas.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Shadows**

It was on Saturday morning, New Years', when Mum and Dad broke the news.

We were sitting at the table, having breakfast as everyone got ready to start the day. Mum was making hot chocolate for everyone, Namine was poking aloofly at her muesli, and I was struggling to keep awake.

I'd gotten home pretty late the previous night (which was permitted by Mum only because the fireworks took place at midnight and it wouldn't have made sense if she said I had to be back by ten), and Mum was totally against sleeping in, which meant I had to wake up early enough to see my Dad off for work.

I was nearly falling asleep into my bowl of cereal when Dad suddenly exclaimed: "We're going to Disney Town!"

He searched our faces expectantly for a reaction. I smiled for the sake of it, seeing as Namine's face remained emotionless.

"Wow, Dad!" I feigned surprise. "That sounds…fun! When're we going?"

"Next weekend," Mum replied, giving Namine a nervous glance.

"Next weekend?" Namine gasped. We all stared at her; a talking Namine was rare.

"Yeah," Mum managed to choke out. "Is…there a problem?"

Namine remained silent for a while, but shook her head eventually. "No. No problem."

Dad was the one who broke the awkward silence. "Anyway, we'll be taking a plane to Radiant Garden, and then we'll spend a night in a hotel, probably go swimmin'…"

"There're no beaches in the Garden, Dad," Namine mumbled, shocking all of us. Not only because she was speaking, but also because she'd just referred to my Dad as _Dad_.

When Dad had gotten over his shock, he forced a laugh. "Yeah, I know. I meant, like, a private pool, y'know? All the hotels have private pools—to make up for the fact that the beach water's full of toxic waste and shit."

"Ew." Namine chewed mechanically on her muesli.

"But I betcha there's gonna be a bunch of cute guys at the hotel," I whispered when Dad and Mum were out of hearing range.

To my surprise, Namine responded, half-smiling. "Don't get your hopes up."

I giggled shakily, hoping this Namine would last a little longer.

* * *

The excitement died down almost immediately.

Disney Town was situated in Radiant Garden.

The same place I'd grown up in.

The same place I'd been raped.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

An uneasy feeling in my stomach plagued me for the whole trip there. It felt like my intestines had gotten tangled into knots, like someone was struggling desperately to untie them, but only making it worse. I struggled to maintain a happy expression. Namine wasn't exactly showing that much excitement—I didn't want Dad thinking he'd paid for the trip for nothing.

I tried to keep myself busy, reading a book, watching a movie, listening to music. Nothing worked. Peeta Mellark suddenly had red eyes. Whenever Edward and Bella kissed, I felt way too hot. The music just sounded like noise.

I tried eating something to keep my mouth busy. The food tasted like cardboard.

The feeling in my stomach worsened when we descended the plane. The twisting in my stomach worsened. I couldn't stop looking over my shoulder when I felt someone was watching me. I was distracted by every little noise. I refused to look anyone in the eye, in case they recognized me.

I tried to tell myself that they wouldn't recognize me, even if I did end up running into some guy from Radiant High. I'd grown my hair out. It was long—way past my elbows. I'd always had it cut short, or mid-length. They wouldn't recognize me, I thought. I'd done that whole summer makeover thing. I'd lost a whole lot of weight. No one would realize it was me…the Tattler.

I shuddered.

"You okay?" I heard someone ask. It was Namine, looking adorable in her checkered beanie. Coming to think of it, I'd never seen that beanie before…

I nodded briskly, trying not to seem suspicious. "Mmfine. J-Just…cold."

In Radiant Garden, winter meant snow, unlike in Destiny Islands. The feeling of snow under my boots was pretty cool. I'd been away for less than a year and I was already missing some things about home.

The streets were bustling with townspeople, enjoying the festive winter season. The snow had already come in heavy, cloaking the roofs, icing the pavements, sparkling white fluff lining the horizon.

A guy bumped into me, and I bit down hard on my lip to bite back a scream. He glanced at me, mumbled a sorry, and grinned. I couldn't bring myself to say anything in reply. He looked like he was about to say something else, but I ran away before he could.

I didn't stop until someone yanked me from behind. I almost kneed my captor in the gut until I realized it was Dad.

"Yo, slow down!"

I realized I was panting, and tried to level my breathing. It was just Dad. _It was just Dad._

"Don't run off now. Don't want you gettin' lost." He looked confused, and worried. He also looked slightly irritated; I was probably making a scene. My eyes traveled to Mum, who looked equally worried, and then to Namine, her expression calculating.

I slowly pushed myself off Dad, and I noticed my hands were trembling.

"You okay, Red?"

"Y-Yeah," I lied. "I'm fine." I pulled the fakest smile ever. "Still a little airsick."

"Here, take some gum," Mum said, handing me a stick of bright pink bubblegum. She glanced nervously at Dad, and he looked back. They were having some kind of telepathic conversation.

I chewed absently on the gum. It helped settle my stomach a bit, strangely enough. As we took the taxi to the hotel Dad wouldn't stop going on about, I pondered over what had just happened. I'd totally blown off a decent looking guy. Sure, I wasn't sure if he'd known me when the 'Tattler' thing was still going on, but…

I couldn't believe what had happened nearly two years ago was still affecting me the way it did. Vincent was just a memory—a horrible, horrible memory—and he still…haunted me.

The nightmares had reduced to a minimum ever since I'd started school and befriended Sora, Riku and the girls, but I still found myself jumping whenever Sora appeared out of nowhere (and he did that a lot). I found myself feeling uncomfortable whenever I saw anyone kissing, and it was pretty obvious crowded parties weren't my scene anymore. I still shuddered in my sleep, and occasionally wasn't able to sleep without the light on.

And thunderstorms…well. You know how I felt about that.

I felt like punching myself, telling myself to get it together. It was all in the past. This shouldn't have been happening. I should've gotten over it by now. He wasn't coming back.

But no matter how much I tried to convince myself, I couldn't bring myself to believe that Vincent was gone. He was always going to be there, engraved in the back of my mind.

You don't get over something like that very quickly. For the whole first month after the…the incident, I would spend hours in the shower, trying to scrub off the 'dirt'. I would scrub and scrub until my skin felt numb and raw.

If there was ever a movie on my life, I would have called it _Nightmare on My Fifteenth Birthday_.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We got to the hotel about thirty minutes later. I remembered that the hotel received the most tourists, since it was the only hotel approximately five minutes away from the historic castle of Radiant Garden—Hollow Bastion. It was nothing but pipes and rubble now, but it was the only tourist attraction in the Garden, and, strangely enough, attracted the old and young alike.

Anyway, the hotel was called 'Caverns of Remembrance', which was probably meant to sound mysterious. It didn't look mysterious at all. It overlooked the idyllic Fountain Court, fountains spraying foamy water across the square. Inside, it looked slightly boring, but apparently it cost quite a lot, because Dad wouldn't stop frowning at the bill and mumbling something along the lines of 'doesn't look that _five-star _to me'.

Namine was listening to music in a new set of headphones I hadn't seen before. It seemed to have magically popped up out of nowhere. She was scrolling through an iPod I hadn't seen before, swaying her blonde head along with the music.

We got to the room and dropped our stuff. Dad left to go 'check out some stuff' at the front office, while Mum went off to find out whether they served vegetarian meals.

It was awkward, just being Namine and I. I climbed onto one of the beds, feeling tired already. It was four in the afternoon. Dad had said we were gonna go swimming, and then the next day we'd be going to Disney Town. Though this was Namine's favorite amusement park ever, when Dad mentioned this, she had no reaction whatsoever.

This slightly discouraged Mum and Dad. I had a feeling the whole purpose of our holiday was to try and get Namine to speak more.

I kicked off my boots and crawled into bed, sinking my head into my pillow. The uneasy feeling in my stomach had almost disappeared, until I heard The Song start to play.

_Beauty queen at only eighteen, she_

_Had some problems with herself…_

I stiffened, the ropes twisting harder and harder in my stomach. I could feel the blood draining from my face. I felt way too warm all of a sudden, and clutched desperately onto the pillow to keep myself from groaning in pain.

_I ran for miles and miles and_

_Wound up at your door…_

Namine started humming along with the song, apparently oblivious to my suffering. I bit down hard on my lip to keep myself from screaming.

It was The Song. 'She Will be Loved' by Maroon 5. The song that had been playing the night I got…the night I…

"Kairi?"

_Great. Now's when she notices. _

"You all right?"

Now, usually, I would've replied. I mean, she was speaking, which was usually a good thing.

But I couldn't. I had a feeling that if I opened my mouth, I would start screaming and wouldn't be able to stop myself.

_I don't mind spending everyday_

_Out in the corner in the pouring rain…_

She searched my face nervously, rising and eventually making her way to my bed. I tried to focus on keeping myself from screaming.

"Y-You look…" She hesitated. "What's wrong?"

I really wanted to tell her, right then and there, just what the hell was going on. I might have actually ended up blurting it out if Mum and Dad hadn't entered then, Mum singing a 'The Little Mermaid' song and Dad grumbling about room service.

"Kairi…?"

I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the horrible song playing in the background. "So…who's up for swimming?"

I didn't think I sounded that convincing, and I don't think Namine did, either.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Namine refused to get in the water, and said that she'd forgotten her bathing suit as an excuse. She just sat at the edge of the pool in her little white dress and grey cardigan, her sketchpad held firmly in her hands as she drew.

Namine was always drawing. She went nowhere without her sketchpad. She'd sketch everything and everything, and I'd heard Eric say that the only time Namine ever seemed to be happy was when she was in her art studio in the basement.

I'd been to her house before, before it was demolished by the government after Eric's death. She'd had more than thirty sketchpads, about three for each year of her life ever since she'd started drawing at the age of four. Her first drawings were sticks and crayon scribbles, but eventually they improved, getting better and better, until how she was now. I was envious of Namine's creativity, her artistic talent. In a way, she reminded me of Sora. Hiding an amazing talent and shrugging it off as 'not that important'.

Whenever I told Sora how he was sure to become a writer one day, he'd always reply with "I'm not _that _great". It was the same with Namine.

Anyway, we were in the indoor pool of Caverns of Remembrance. The pool was heated, because of the freezing cold weather outside, and the warm water was soothing to my skin.

The water was nothing like the one on the Islands, though. Here it was just artificial, chlorine-filled currents, but on the Islands it was an endless ocean. No legs blocking me everywhere I swam, no people hogging up all the space whenever I wanted to dive…

I tried to make it look like I was having fun all the same. Dad had spent a lot of munny to get us to go on this trip, and even if we were a little well-off…I just didn't feel right taking our financial status for granted.

I was waiting next to the diving board, in the queue, rubbing my arms self-consciously, when I felt someone walk up behind me. At first I thought it was just another swimmer, waiting in line to use the ramp. I thought it might have been a girl, and then I realized I was wrong.

"_Hey, sexy_," he whispered, leaning dangerously close to my ear. My breath hitched in my throat, the way it always did whenever someone invaded my personal space.

I tried to keep my calm, still not turning around. "Hello."

I heard the guy chuckle, and I mentally wondered how old he was. He sounded at least eighteen, but it was pretty hard to judge according to his voice. (Riku sounded like a twenty year-old, and he was barely eighteen.) "Do you have the time?"

I turned around, feeling pretty stupid for freaking out. He just wanted the _time_. This thing was really getting way out of hand. I looked up at the guy. His hair was dark and wavy, and he was ridiculously tanned. He looked around twenty-something years old, and I suppose some people would have classified him as hot. "Uh—y-yeh, sure." My eyes flickered to the clock on the wall, and I wondered inwardly why he hadn't found out the time by himself. I supposed he must have missed it. I smiled as convincingly as I could. "It's six fifteen."

A smirk spread across his face. "No, I meant the time so you could write down my number."

I felt like my heart had just hit a speed-bump. I should've known. The perverted smirk he had on his face, his heated gaze…it was all so obvious. And then there was the bunch of guys who were urging him on, watching the scene from the poolside bar.

I felt my cheeks heat up, and I turned away. "I-I don't…"

"I was blinded by your beauty so I'm going to need your name and number for insurance reasons."

I decided to keep quiet, turning back to the queue, which had advanced a little. _Who the hell is this guy?_

He followed, much to my horror. "Apart from being sexy, what do you do for a living?"

"Are you getting these lame pick-up lines off the internet or something?" I found myself snapping before I could stop myself. I didn't even want to know how he reacted to that, so I forced myself not to turn around and look at him.

I was about to climb the ladder to the diving ramp when suddenly the guy took my arm, spinning me around to face him. My heart started beating crazily and I felt myself start to panic. For some reason, the feeling of any guy except Sora touching me made me start to panic.

(Well…that was mainly because Sora was my best friend, and Sora's hugs were…comforting.)

This guy…he was the opposite of comforting. His hands were coarse and he looked like a university junkie—exactly the kind of guy any father would disapprove of if he asked to date their child. He had tattoos running down his arms and his dark eyes were radiating lust.

"Wh-what—" I struggled to formulate my words correctly; my body was approaching Full Frontal Panic Mode.

"C'mon," he persisted, and I grimaced at the smell of smoke in his breath. "Quit playin' hard to get. Let me buy you a drink or something?"

"I-I'm—"

"Ahem."

I heard someone clear her throat behind him, and he turned around as if someone had tapped him on the shoulder. I gasped when I realized who it was.

"Excuse me, but can I know what you're doing with my sister?"

Namine was glaring up at him with her hands on her hips, looking small and vulnerable in her tiny dress and oversized hoodie. But her eyes were burning with anger, and I flinched when I saw the intensity of her glare.

The guy let go off my arm, turning to her with a smirk. "She's _your _sister?"

Namine nodded briskly. "Yes, she is. And it's obvious she's not interested."

He rolled his eyes, crossed his arms. "What's the matter? Jealous?"

Namine snorted. "Yeah. Right. I'm jealous of a puke-faced pedophile."

I stared at her, and Puke-Faced Pedo frowned. "You—"

"You'd better walk away right now before I report you for sexual harassment."

PFP stared at her in shock, before finally storming off, flustered and irritated.

She continued glaring at his back, and that's when I realized how much her hands were shaking.

"N-Namine…" I whispered. She turned to me slowly, her angry glare fading completely.

She blushed in embarrassment, looking away. "You okay?"

It took a while for me to regain control of my senses and nod. "Uh-huh."

She nodded, gave me one last look, and ran off.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We ordered our dinner—spaghetti and meatballs, Namine's favorite. Namine hardly ate it though, which troubled Mum quite a lot. Namine had always been the first to clear her plate.

I forced myself to eat, even though I wasn't that hungry either. The encounter with PFP (yeah, the name had started to grow onto me) had shaken me—what would I have done if Namine hadn't intervened? Mum and Dad wouldn't have noticed—they were too busy having fun in the Adult's Pool. Most of the people there were couples, and the rest were perverted guys looking for a shag or slutty girls looking for someone to hook up with. They wouldn't have given us a second glance.

Dad and Mum eventually left, going to their room, leaving Namine and I alone. There was nothing filling the thick silence apart from the buzz of the TV and Namine's pencil scratching across her sketch paper.

I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, wrapping the duvet around my body to stop myself shivering. I was wearing woolen socks and thick pajamas, but I wouldn't stop shuddering. I knew I didn't have a fever. It was something much worse than that.

I knew I had a problem, a problem I had to take care of before it got even worse.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The next morning we went shopping.

Mum went crazy, telling us to try everything we saw. She searched desperately for a dress she thought Namine would like. Namine remained unresponsive, her headphones permanently stuck to her head. She refused to take them off, shaking off anything Mum said with a random spout of song lyrics.

I asked her where she'd gotten the iPod and headphones, and all she did was nod her head along to whatever song she was listening to.

I tried to act like I was having fun, gushing over dresses I personally thought were hideous and begging for killer boots I knew I'd never wear. I felt sorry for Mum and Dad. They were trying so hard…I had a feeling if I told them about my…problem…they'd be shaken beyond belief. Dad would demand the name of the guy, I'd eventually be forced to tell him, Dad would report to the police…

All would go downhill from there.

And how would my friends react after knowing I'd been a…I'd been…raped? It'd eventually spread all over the school, distorting the truth along the way. I'd be seen as a slut. They'd assume I was lying, falsely accusing a guy of rape out of sexual frustration. I'd never be able to walk the halls again without people whispering about me.

I'd watched movies.

And Sora? Well…I had no idea how he'd react. I wasn't really sure. Would he be any different?

It was around five when we finished shopping. I had six new dresses, ten new pairs of shoes and at least a dozen hats and scarves, while Namine had nothing but a pair of new combat boots, a new black hoodie (with cute animal ears on the hood) and some new pencil colors for her artwork. Mum seemed a little disappointed when Namine confirmed it was all she wanted, but tried hard to hide it.

After heading back to the hotel and having a long-needed lunch, we headed to Disney Town.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The fair was bustling with excitement. It was the time of year for the Dream Festival. Everything was cheaper at this time of year, and the floors were cloaked with snowflakes, which reflected the bright rainbow lights of the carnival.

People were everywhere—it was like everyone in town were concentrated in this one place. It had been years since the last time I'd gone to Disney Town, and I'd forgotten how much I loved Disney Town. The rides, the music…the thrill was contagious.

I stole a glance sideways at Namine—she seemed to feel the same way.

Her eyes were wide with amazement as she stared around in awe. Her mouth was open wide, as if she was holding back a gasp. And then she smiled. "It's beautiful."

Namine livened up a little after that. She agreed to go on rides, she played games…she even ate. I had a feeling her appetite had finally returned.

I tried to act like I was having fun as well, for her sake. I followed her around everywhere as she tried out all the rides and fair games, winning almost all of them—even Fruitball. She one a miniature doll for herself—a doll with blonde hair and a white dress. She immediately fell in love with it, christening it 'Nami'.

We rode on practically all the rides, and when Namine asked for us to go on the Pinball Machine, I couldn't object.

At first I was scared, but when the ride started and we were flying, it felt magical. Something like the sensation I felt under the fireworks, except, instead of sharing it with my best friends, I was sharing it with my little sister.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I had a nightmare that night.

It was after we'd gotten home from the fair. I'd been so tired I'd fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

In my dream it was snowy and dark. I was in a vast wilderness of snow-cloaked trees, and for some reason I was alone.

The wind whipped at my hair and I struggled to keep my eyes open through the breeze. It was freezing cold and my ears were burning red. For some reason I was wearing nothing but my pajamas.

And then suddenly I saw Sora on the horizon, somehow radiating warmth. He had his friendly smile plastered to his face and was holding out a mug of hot chocolate that seemingly appeared from nowhere.

I was running to him when suddenly the snow started getting thick, and my boots got stuck. I tried to move, but it was impossible—I was trapped in the snow.

And then I felt someone's breath on my neck, and stiffened when I heard a voice. _His _voice.

I tried to scream, but my breath was caught in my throat. I turned back to Sora, but the smile was gone. All that was left on his face was a disappointed frown. He shook his head, his eyes upset.

I called out to him, begging him to help me, as the snow all around me became blood red. Sora disappeared over the horizon, and suddenly it felt way too hot—burning hot, and—

I snapped awake, breathing heavily, letting out a strangled scream. It was dark, and I realized that it was actually snowing outside. Snowflakes pelted against the window. I could see the purply-navy sky outside, even through all the white.

I brought my hand up to my forehead, wiping at the dampness. I focused on leveling my breathing, telling myself over and over that it was just a dream. No, a nightmare. Another fucking nightmare.

The pain in my stomach was still there, and I climbed out of bed, hugging my arms. I poured myself a cup of water and chugged it down. I ended up gulping it down too fast and choking, coughing up not only water but all my dinner as well.

My throat burned as I spewed out everything I possibly could into the bathroom sink, the sporadic heaving bringing tears to my eyes. I coughed, the pain in my scorched throat worsening. When I'd finally retched all I possibly could out of my stomach, I leaned forward on the cold sink, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

The horrible sick taste was still in my mouth, but I was too weak to try and wash it out. I was just about to collapse when I heard someone open the door to the bathroom squeak open.

"Kairi?"

I could barely bring myself to look at Namine.

I heard feet shuffling and then she was beside me, rubbing my back. "Wh-what happened?"

I shook my head, not knowing how to answer. I was still shivering like hell, and she seemed to notice that. It wasn't that hard to see how worried she was, and it was surprising. It was like Namine could suddenly show emotion again.

She wordlessly grabbed at towel off the rack and soaked it with water before wiping away at my mouth. I let her tend to me, too weak to do anything else.

She cleaned all the sick from my mouth and helped me over to the bed, soothingly patting my back. She laid me down and wordlessly pulled the duvet over my shivering body.

"It's okay…" She whispered, wiping at the hair that had found its way to my mouth. "Just…get some sleep."

"C-Can you stay here with me?" I whimpered. I realized that weirdly enough I was crying. I felt her hesitate, but eventually she climbed in with me. I felt so helpless and stupid that I almost started crying again.

"Ssh…" I heard her whisper. "It's okay."

I chuckled bitterly. "I'm s-supposed to be the one taking care of y-you."

I felt her shake her head. "Not necessarily. I can take care of myself. Now get some rest."

I didn't need to be told twice. I sunk into her warm embrace, falling asleep in seconds.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

By Monday the uneasy feeling in my stomach had completely disappeared, and I felt okay enough to go to school. Namine had gone back to speaking little, but I decided not to worry too much. She would talk when she wanted to.

I waited in the bus park for Sora that morning, like I always did. He arrived looking pretty out of it, and there were awful purple bags under his eyes. "What happened to you?"

He yawned, raking his fingers through his hair. "Uh…I slept a little late."

"On a school night?" I asked. I frowned slightly. "Lemme guess—Desperate Housewives?"

"Grey's Anatomy, actually."

I turned to him, not sure whether he was kidding or not, and laughed.

He smiled, and I resisted the urge to hug him for no apparent reason. "So…how did you spend _your _last week of holiday?"

I told him about Disney Town and the fair games, leaving out the part about the pool and me throwing up in the sink, trying to make it seem like I'd had the best time of my life. He didn't seem that interested, but at least he tried, smiling and laughing when appropriate.

It wasn't long before we entered the school building, and we had to part ways to meet up with our friends.

Yuna, Lenne and Rikku were already deep in conversation when I arrived at the locker, and barely reacted when I said hi.

"Oh my god I feel so embarrassed…" Yuna moaned, covering her face with her Calculus textbook. "I can't believe I did that!"

"What?" I asked before I could stop myself. Yuna gave me a look that told me she didn't want to talk about it, but Rikku spoke up anyway.

"Did you hear about how she totally almost raped Tidus at the New Years party?"

"I did _not _almost rape him!" Yuna hissed, her face reddening. "And I was _drunk_! Why didn't any of you guys stop me?"

"I did stop you," Lenne reminded her. "And you're lucky I did."

Yuna pressed her lips together, looking from Lenne to Rikku, then to me. She sighed. "Whatever. That's not gonna happen again."

"He's still staring, Yuna," Rikku whispered, and I saw her glance over her shoulder at Tidus, who was indiscreetly pretending to be drinking at the water fountain.

"Whatever," Yuna repeated. "Let's just go to class."

"Do you like him or not?" Lenne blurted suddenly. "Cause you're sending him some mixed messages."

"I was drunk, Lenne! How many times?" Yuna sighed in exasperation. "That night didn't mean anything. Period."

"But—"

"Subject closed."

Yuna turned on her heels before stomping off to homeroom. Lenne sighed, absently playing with one of her braids. "You know…sometimes Yuna can be a real bitch."

Rikku nodded. "True dat."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was at lunch when I noticed something was wrong with Riku.

We were in the cafeteria, sitting at our table. The girls were busy listening to Rikku recount her escapades with some guy she'd met at the beach during the holiday. I wasn't remotely interested, but I pretended to be anyway. Penelo was sitting with the cheerleaders, which I found pretty weird, but I shrugged it off. She'd been getting increasingly close the cheerleaders these days; it wasn't really surprising.

Vanille suddenly gasped loudly, distracting everyone else on the table. "Riku! What happened to your arm?"

Riku, who I hadn't really seen until that afternoon, gave her a bored glance. He looked away, tugging on his sleeve. "Nothin'."

"It doesn't look like 'nothing'." Another cheerleader, who I vaguely recognized as Sice, crooned.

"Yeah, that does look pretty bad," Ashe burbled.

Riku seemed pretty irked by all the attention. "W-Well I, uh…" He scratched the back of his neck, and I immediately knew that whatever he was about to say was a lie. "…I crashed on my motorbike."

The cheerleaders immediately started fussing over him, gushing over him (which he didn't like), patting his hair (which he really didn't like), and demanding to know if there was anything at all they could do to help.

It was just as Seven, a junior cheerleader, was about to offer to come over to his house and 'help him clean up' that Fang cut them all off. "Leave him the fuck alone or I'm kicking all your sorry asses off the team."

They immediately stopped, retreating to their seats in seconds. I spotted Riku giving Fang a blinding white smile of gratitude, and Fang smiled back.

I forced myself not to show jealousy. There was no point, really. Riku wasn't interested in her. And…even if he was…I was closer to him than she would ever be.

I shook away that thought. _Quit being a bitch._

My eyes eventually found their way back to Riku, just as he looked up and met mine.

The frustration that had been there about three seconds prior had suddenly disappeared. All of a sudden they were burning with an emotion I couldn't quite pinpoint yet, and I found it impossible to look away.

I might have been there forever if he hadn't suddenly gotten distracted by something his friend said.

Sighing, I turned back to the rest of the girls while lazily poking at my food. Barely three seconds had passed before we were interrupted again.

"I said I'll pass, **alright**?"

Everyone turned to Riku, the owner of the voice. He was seething, his hands balled in fists as he glared at Shuyin, who had apparently said something that ticked him off.

He seemed to suddenly realize everyone was staring at him, his frown lessening slightly as he looked around at everyone on the table. His eyes met mine, and I felt myself flinch.

And then he slammed the table with his fists, getting up and storming out of the cafeteria.

The silence that had cloaked the table subsided, and everyone started talking again. Rikku continued with her story, and the guys continued their conversation about Blitzball.

"Wait…is this normal?" I asked Lenne.

Lenne shrugged, swatting absently at Shuyin's hand (which was absently playing with her braids as she spoke). "Yeah. Kinda. He's just in one of his moods again."

"One of his moods…?" I frowned.

Vanille nodded, smiling sadly. "Yup. He gets moody sometimes. You don't want to bother him when he's having one of his moods."

I nodded slowly, taking it all in. Riku got moody a lot, huh? That's not really how I saw it.

What I saw was that somewhere, deep down, he was hurting.

I wanted to know _why_.

* * *

**Yeaaaaaah…so that's the next chappie of Angel.**

**Not my best, I know. I have a cold, and a headache. Bear with me. **

**I honestly hate this chappie. Hate it. GAH. Can't wait for the next one to be up, so this one will be out of the spotlight. Whiny Kairi sucks. The beech. (Yes, I spelt it that way on purpose.)**

**Back to school tomorrow, so gonna post this real fast. How's that for weekly updates! Awesome, huh? I think I'm gonna commit to updating weekly… *grins***

* * *

**Sneek Peek:**

"_Got room for one more?"_

"_Fuck this."_

"_Just be nice…okay?"_

"_I think there's something you should know…about Roxas."_

* * *

**MUAHAHA I R SO EVIL.**

**Read. Review. If you get bored waiting, there's always my favorites column on my profile page for you. (Gah failed rhyming).**

**See you next week! In Apologize…**


	20. Smile

**A/N: Well, as I'm starting this chappie, I'm in my room, brooding over how my Mom refuses to connect the internet. Disconnection of the internet means I have no way whatsoever of doing my homework, which requires the internet, and would usually take three hours. Not being able to do my homework not only means that my grade average is in jeopardy of falling drastically, but it also means that I have time to start this chappie of Angel. My logic is failing, but whatever.**

**Anonymous reviews…**

**Superpeanutbutter: I know! Don't worry, I thought it sucked big time. I actually hated the chappie with a passion…ugh. Anyway, the PFP was this guy called Al Cid Margrace from Final Fantasy XII. He looks like a goat, and was one of the only FF characters I didn't want reappearing, which is why I put him in that chappie. XD I was terribly bored writing it…which was why it seemed a little off. :P This chappie will be better, for sure.**

**Well…here we go. I know you're all still tingling to find out what happens on the next in Addicted, but, you know. Don't you remember when you were all excited to know what Kairi got for Valentine's? =D Hopefully this chappie will be better than the last one… ||barfs||**

**Yeah…so about this chappie: Valentine's, glee blah…you know the drill. GO SOKAI! (Happy late SoKai Day everyone! Hehe...)**

**BLAHBLAHBLAH SCHOOL MY LIFE SUCKS BLAH.**

**Disclaimer: DON'T EFFING OWN ANYTHING DAMMIT!**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_We go to Radiant Garden._

The same place I'd grown up in.

The same place I'd been raped.

_Namine chases off a rapist. _

"You'd better walk away right now before I report you for sexual harassment."

_I have a panic attack…_

I wouldn't stop shuddering. I knew I didn't have a fever. It was something much worse than that.

I knew I had a problem, a problem I had to take care of before it got even worse.

_And Riku has a problem._

What I saw was that somewhere, deep down, he was hurting.

_And I'm determined to find out what it is._

* * *

**Chapter 20: Smile**

We were hanging out in my back garden, sitting amongst the camellias (but not _on _them—Mum was like a mother hen when it came to her flowers) for our Drama Practice thing. We didn't usually practice that much; it had sort of become an excuse for hanging out.

Sora was going on about how he'd found out that Terra, his Sports instructor—(and probably the hottest male teacher on campus; I mean, I'd come by once when I'd needed ice for my ankle and he'd been in the middle of undressing and—ahem.)—was having problems with Aqua, our Literacy teacher. Sora had, apparently, given him advice and, well, a listening ear, which I kind of expected him to do.

"That's nice," I said, when he'd finished. I closed my eyes, taking in the sweet smell of flowers and loving the taste of my new ice cream bar. Sora had introduced to ice cream to me, which, though it was originally created and widely sold from Radiant Garden, I'd never tasted. I'd lost appetite for a lot of things after…well. You know.

"It's cool what you told him though," I continued, and I meant it. Then, branching onto a completely unrelated subject, I said: "You sure do watch a lot of girl series. You watch _Pretty Little Liars_?" Which, by the way, is one of my best series. Well, Namine's.

"I tried," I admitted. "But there was a _Glee_ marathon going at the same time."

"You watch Glee too?" I gasped. I had a feeling he'd hate that show, for some reason. "I _**love**__ Glee_!"

He chuckled, sucking at the remaining ice cream on his spoon. I found myself staring at him as he did this, but I didn't really know why. "I don't care for it. It's a bit cheesy, you gotta admit. And they're too many stereotypes." He took another spoon. "One of the only reasons I watch the show is because of the song covers they do."

"Yeah, they rock," I agreed. I realized my ice cream was out and leaned over to steal some of Sora's. He glared a little, but he didn't protest. He must have gotten used to me doing that.

After throwing my empty cup in the trash, I took my place opposite him again. While waiting for him to finish his tub (I decided to let him eat in peace), I absently plucked out a pink camellia. Mum wouldn't be too mad if I took _one_, right?

Sora didn't seem to see it that way. "What the hell? Your mom's gonna kill you!"

"It's just _one _flower." I brought it to my nose, taking in the smell. It reminded me of gardens and hugs and Mum's cooking. "These are camellias. My mom knows what every single one of these flowers mean." I stroked the petals. "This one means 'longing for you'."

He nodded silently.

"Personally, my best flower is this one…" I headed over to the division where the daffodils were. "…a daffodil."

I let him smell it, and he smiled in approval. "Mmm. They're really nice." He licked thoughtfully on his spoon. "What do daffodils mean?"

I was about to answer when Mum called me. "I'll be right back!" I handed him the flower, giving him an apologetic smile before heading over to find out what Mum wanted.

"I want you to be coming home with Namine after school," Mum said. "I don't like how you both go to the same school and yet she comes home hours after you do."

I wasn't really keen on this idea. "Um…right…but she usually comes out earlier than me and—"

"Then just tell her to wait for you in the library or something."

I hesitated. "I don't think she knows where the library is—"

"Kairi, enough." She sighed. "Look, I want you to come home with Namine from now on, understood?"

I sighed. "Fine." I couldn't exactly object.

Sure, I was curious as to what Namine was _doing _all that time she was away. I hadn't seen Namine come out after school, so I assumed she'd gotten out early, which is what I told my Mum. I didn't try to think where else she might be. My mum was the kind of mum who'd spaz if she found out her daughter was skipping class. You know, like most mums.

I headed back outside to the garden, where Sora was stroking the petals of a daffodil, a fond smile on his face.

I was too preoccupied with how adorable he looked to remember to tell him what a daffodil meant.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I didn't manage to ask Riku about his mood that day. Something told me he didn't want to be spoken to.

Sure, I _tried_, like in Math when were sitting next to each other. The bruise looked a lot worse up close, not at all like a motorcycle wound. It looked like someone had dug their nails into his arm really hard.

I knew it wasn't really my business. Sure, Riku and I were sorta friends, but…I didn't have a right to invade his privacy.

It was very hard to ignore, though, how tense Riku was during Drama the next day. He still wasn't talking, but no one seemed to be the least bit bothered.

Well, except for me, of course.

And Sora.

"What's up with him?" Sora asked, glancing at Riku, who was absently beating a drum stick against his palm. I had a feeling he was trying to release stress or something.

I shrugged. "He's been like that all morning…"

We were interrupted by Sephiroth, who introduced what we were going to do that day. Apparently we had to go over Maleficent's introduction scene…or something.

Fang was Maleficent, and she seemed to be pretty happy that she got to have a dance solo with Riku, which, you know, was _every _girl's dream. Not.

She was assigned to dance to 'Do It Like A Dude', and got to work straight away. Sephiroth didn't even give her dance steps; she just had to wing it. It was like she'd known in advance—either that, or she'd watched the music video one too many times. She managed to imitate the dancing perfectly, even adding a few of her own moves. She was dancing like a hooker, but Sephiroth didn't even seem to blink, just occasionally mumbling something about stage lights and plot and special effects.

No one except me saw how uncomfortable Riku was getting.

Until he snapped.

Before I could blink, Riku had shoved Fang off him and yelled in her face.

Almost everyone gasped, and Lenne and Shuyin even broke out of their teasing session to look at what was happening.

Riku's chest rose and fell as he tried to level his breathing, and I noticed his fists were clenched. His anger slowly fell off his face and all that was left was this blank look.

I don't know _why _I was smiling, albeit minimally. As soon as I realized I was, I pinched myself to make it go away.

His blank eyes turned away from me, drifted towards Sora, and then landed on Sephiroth.

It seemed like ages before he finally hissed "Fuck this" and stormed out of the Drama i Hall.

After a few seconds, Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Um. Alright. That was brilliant Fang. Keep it up. Next song we're going to be working on is 'The Uprising'."

Everyone who had to be present in this song groaned.

I was too preoccupied with thinking about Riku to care anymore. I hated how everyone was dismissing it, like it happened all the time. Sure, Tidus and some of the guys seemed to care…but not in the way I thought they should. Shuyin was grumbling about how, if he didn't 'find a way to take out the giant stick from his ass', he'd have to take the spot as Team Captain, which I found both ridiculous and mean.

I eventually couldn't take it anymore. "I'm going to go talk to him."

I was heading out when Sora stopped me. "No." I stared at him, and I was pretty sure I had a 'WHAT THE HELL?' look on my face. "I will."

I was about to protest, but then I realized Riku would be better off having some…well, 'guy' advice. "Fine." I sighed, ruffling his hair. "Just…be nice, okay?"

Sora grinned. "Naturally."

I smiled fondly at him, watching him leave.

"On second thought, Fang, I think we'd better go with Disturbia instead, what do you think? And Kairi, we'd better get working on your solo…"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Sora and Riku skipped Drama entirely, but, by the next day, I was pretty sure everything had gone pretty well, because Riku was almost completely back to his old self.

Fang was pretty good at hiding how she felt about Riku's rejection, but I noticed she limited her contact with him. It was like she was afraid he was going to break out yelling at her any second.

In glee club the next day, something weird happened. We were going over possible songs for the Regionals when we interrupted by someone walking through the door.

It was Tidus, his hands in his pockets and a smug smile on his face. "Hey, everyone."

"Tidus," Yuna hissed. "What are you doing here? We're kind of busy and—"

"I came to sign up." Tidus shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "I figured you'd need some help."

"W-We don't…" Yuna pressed her lips together, as if trying to figure out what to do. "We don't need your help."

Tidus took a seat anyway, next to me. "Well I don't care. I'm joining anyway."

Yuna frowned. "You can't just _join_ like that."

"Watch me."

Yuna started playing with her hair. "Okay. Well…in that case you'll have to audition."

Tidus grinned. "Sure."

"Oh this is gonna be good…" I heard Selphie whisper beside me. "Look at all that sexual tension!"

I didn't see any. "Um…I think you're stretching it a little…"

Tidus picked up a microphone, tested it and looked at Yuna. "What should I sing?"

Yuna shrugged. "Whatever you want. Just make sure it's nothing too silly, like, you know, the Teletubbies song." She was talking so fast her words were almost slurred, and I had a feeling she was still nervous about the near-raping incident in the party.

Tidus nodded. "Okay."

He thought for a while, and then he started singing.

"_Just shoot for the stars_

_If it feels right_

_Then aim for my heart_

_If you feel like_

_And take me away, make it okay_

_I swear I'll behave_…"

Tidus, it turned out, had a _really _good voice. Well, okay, not as good as Riku's or Sora's (I mean, they were another case altogether), but…well. Good enough to have a main part in the play.

"_You wanted control_

_So we waited_

_I put on a show_

_Now I make it_

_You say I'm a kid_

_My ego is big_

_I don't give a shit…_

_And it goes like this_:"

Yuna seemed to think the same; her eyes widened noticeably as he continued. I noticed a considerable crowd had started to form outside—people had heard his singing, probably.

"Oh my gosh he is so hot…" Selphie whispered, giggling.

"He's not _that _good," I heard Irvine mutter. "I mean, I've heard better."

"Do you think he's serious about Yuna?" Selphie asked, keeping her voice low. "Because if he's not, I'm calling dibs."

"_I don't need try to control you_

_Look into my eyes and I'll own you_

_With them the moves like Jagger_

_I've got the moves like Jagger_

_I've got the mooooooves... like Jagger_."

Yuna stared at him as we all clapped, Selphie clapping the most enthusiastically. Olette shook her head and I giggled at Selphie's childishness. Hope mumbled something about hating Maroon 5. Tidus winked at us with a flirtatious grin, and then turned to Yuna.

"So, how did I do?"

She tried to look nonchalant, but Lenne, I, and possibly even Tidus, were aware that she was struggling very hard not to smile. "Mediocre."

Tidus was about to say something when the door creaked open, and in walked Roxas. He was holding a bucket full of cleaning supplies, a mop, and a broomstick. His sleeveless black shirt seemed to enhance his muscles, and his jeans were spattered with paint, and he looked like he really didn't want to be there.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Got punished again, and…I gotta clean…this room…"

His voice fizzled into nothing when he realized no one really cared, and he sighed before getting to work.

"Anyway," Yuna began, changing the subject and diverting everyone's attention from how hard she was blushing with a single gesture. "You all know the Regionals are coming up, right?"

Selphie squealed, validating that, yes, we did.

"We won the Sectionals; big deal." Yuna sighed. "But the Nationals are something completely bigger. We've seen that…two years in a row. You _know _how hard our opponents will be."

Lenne was more optimistic about it all. "But none of that is gonna stop us this time! This is the year we'll finally win—I'm sure of it!"

We all cheered in approval. Yuna just crossed her arms. "We say that every year, so I'm not going to say it again."

Tidus crossed his arms behind his head, a gesture that reminded me uncannily of Sora. "How do you guys get beaten every year?"

Yuna frowned. "We have some good opponents."

"Well, in that case, you'll need all the help you can get."

Yuna glared at him, long and hard. "Yes. I know that."

"Geez, loosen up a little!" Tidus laughed, dropping his arms. "I'm just saying! Sure, you've got Kairi this year, which, you know, is awesome…but, honestly, I saw a couple of flaws in your last performance."

Yuna's frown darkened, but she looked slightly curious. "Like what, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well…" He uncrossed his arms. "For starters, you guys relied way too much on the fact that you're…of the opposite sex."

"That was a onetime thing—"

"The guys got almost _no_ singing time."

"Well, we _are _almost all girls; we can't just hand out solos to everyone—"

"Coming to think of it, the only people that sang, really, were you, Kairi and Lenne. The rest were just backup singers…and they hardly did anything but dance."

Serah, Selphie and Marlene immediately started to explain that they didn't mind backing them up—(they obviously didn't want to be on Yuna's bad side)—but Tidus cut them off.

"They other singers are probably completely familiar with what you guys—well, you and Lenne at least—are capable of. The judges are gonna be judging you guys as a team, Yuna. You've gotta let some of the other singers…well, have their time in the spotlight."

Tidus finished his mini rant with a seemingly practiced flick of the hair, and we nodded in assent. Yuna didn't seem to know what to do, but thankfully Lenne—(who had been sexting Shuyin while all this was going on, judging from the look on her face)—came to her aid. "That's a great idea, T! Olette has a pretty good voice…and I can't even remember the last time we used Marlene!"

"We haven't; she's a freshman."

"Well…now's our chance to use her," Lenne continued.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Yuna muttered doubtfully. "No offense…but we're weeks away from the Regionals; we can't afford to try anything reckless."

"Isn't life about taking risks?" Tidus retorted. "C'mon, trust me on this."

They stared at each other for a while, and then Yuna sighed. "Fine." She massaged her temples as Tidus cheered, mumbling something about how badass he was and how he was going to lead the team to victory.

"Any suggestions on a song?" Lenne chirped. She was in an unusually bubbly mood today; I figured she and Shuyin must have had sex the previous night, or something. "C'mon. Anyone?"

Olette raised her hand.

Yuna sighed. "Get a move on. We don't have all day."

Olette thought for a moment, whispered something to Hope, and took the microphone from Tidus.

Yuna raised her eyebrows. "Whoa, we don't need to make such a big deal about—"

Yuna was cut off by Hope's piano intro, and then Olette's subsequent singing.

"_I heard that you're settled down_

_That you've got a girl_

_And you're married now…_"

Olette had a _really _nice voice—I'd heard her sing on my first day in glee club, but I'd forgotten how good she actually was. As the song progressed, Yuna and Lenne seemed to realize this too. I saw Lenne give a nod of approval, while Yuna just shrugged.

"_I had hoped you'd see my face_

_And that you'd be reminded that for me_

_It isn't over…_"

Hope wasn't an expert, but he managed to play manageably well along to her singing. Her voice was soft and sincere at the same time. Her eyes were closed tight as she sang, and it looked like she was holding back pain.

"_Never mind I'll find_

_Someone like you…_"

Hope's playing slowed down as Olette continued, and as she concluded it was horribly quiet. I don't think anyone noticed the tears that rimmed her eyes except me.

She finally opened her eyes with her final, stressed note, and her eyes bore into me.

Well, at least I thought it was me, until I realized it wasn't.

It was someone behind me.

And that someone was Roxas, who had stopped mopping altogether. He had this stricken-slash-ashamed expression on his face. He saw me looking and quickly looked away, frowning.

…what?

"Um…okay," Yuna spoke up after a while.

"See? You've been hiding _THIS _all this time, and you didn't even know it!" Tidus crossed his arms, pretty happy with himself.

"Yeah, whatever." Yuna nodded slowly, glancing at Tidus from the corner of her eyes. "You're in."

"Wh-what—um, okay," Tidus sputtered, his brave persona falling momentarily. "Sure. Um." He blushed awkwardly for a bit, but most of us were too busy watching Olette to care.

Olette was still staring at Roxas, her expression a mixture of longing, hatred and regret. Selphie cursed under her breath. "Oh hell…"

"What?" I whispered, eager to know what was going on.

And then Olette shoved the microphone into Tidus' hands and ran out of the room.

"What's with her?" Tidus asked, once the awkwardness had subsided.

Lenne had gone back to texting Shuyin (probably planning their next hook up or something). Yuna sighed. "No idea."

Selphie got to her feet, brushing imaginary dust off her skirt. "Well, I guess that's my cue! I'll go get her fixed up—"

"Actually, you can do that later; I need to find out what you're good at." Yuna handed her a list of songs, something she'd probably been writing while Olette was singing. "Pick one. Sing it. Now."

Selphie looked like she was about to object, but decided against it. "Whatever you say!" She grinned, and then gave me a look. I understood immediately.

"Yuna, could I go to the bathroom?"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I found Olette crying in the girls' bathroom.

She was blowing her nose when I came in, and her eyes were all red. I immediately felt sorry for her.

"Hey…" I walked towards her cautiously. "You okay?"

She sniffled, wiped at her tears with her palms, and nodded warily. "Mm-hmm. I-I'm…fine."

I nodded slowly. "Okay. Well…just incase you ever want to talk…I'll be here."

I started heading out, and was stopped before I reached the door. "Wait."

I turned around. Olette swallowed, wiping some brown hair away from her eyes. "…there's something you should know about…" She gulped. "…Roxas."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I was waiting outside school for Namine after glee. I figured she'd be waiting for Roxas, and I was right. She was sitting on a bench near the bike park, sketching. She didn't see me, though.

To be honest…I was curious to find out what it was that Namine did after school. With…_him_.

After what I'd heard from Olette, my trust in Roxas…well, it pretty much disappeared.

He came out in his stained jeans and his tattered school t-shirt (don't ask me why he was wearing jeans instead of uniform), spinning what I assumed was his bracelet around his finger absently. He looked around for Namine, and smiled when he saw her. She didn't see him though, and I watched as Roxas attempted, and succeeded, to startle Namine.

I watched her glare at him, him smile fondly at her, wince when she elbowed him in the stomach, and then help her pack up her art stuff.

And then they were off.

I waited a few seconds, and then cut to the chase.

Thankfully, I wasn't wearing my squeaky-soled shoes, so I managed to stay as discreet as possible. I made a few slip-ups once or twice, and, if Roxas was actually in some street gang like Sora had told me a while back, I assumed he'd be trained to recognize when someone was following him.

I then supposed he was too preoccupied with Namine to notice, because he didn't even turn around once.

I followed them right into parts of town I'd never seen before. The buildings started to get worse, and the roads were eerily quiet. I had a feeling we were taking a side road, and I didn't like it at all.

I didn't like quiet, narrow places. I couldn't really say I was claustrophobic, but…

After a while I started to wonder what time it was. I'd left my phone at home and I didn't have a watch. How long had I been walking, really? Ten—twenty minutes?

After about five more minutes of walking (amazingly, none of them had noticed me yet)—we emerged from the narrow roads into a large courtyard, and I suddenly realized where we were.

We were at the Not-So-Children's Shelter, the place we'd picked up Namine. It looked just as filthy as I always remembered it—dustbins full to the brim, prematurely pregnant girls smoking by the grassless garden, toddlers playing with dangerous objects on the ground, such as, you know, glass and batteries and stuff.

I was asking myself why Namine would possibly come here when about three of the kids jumped to their feet at the sight of her, squealing in glee.

"_NAMI_!" They squealed, running up to her and tugging at her skirt. The smallest one, a little girl with long pink hair, stretched her arms out, as if asking for Namine to lift her.

Namine did, which was surprising, because I'd always thought she was too weak to lift anything. Roxas just waited patiently, smiling slightly as he watched her.

I was just close enough to hear what they were saying, but I knew after a while they'd go inside and I'd be shut out completely.

"Ritz, Porom, Luca…" Namine turned to Roxas. "This is Roxas."

Roxas gave them a little wave, and the chubby dark-skinned one—Luca?—gave him a skeptical look. "Are you Namine's boyfriend?"

Roxas coughed, and Namine shook her head. "N-No, we're…" There was an awkward pause, and then Namine said: "Let's go inside, okay? Roxas still needs to meet the others…"

The three little girls cheered and one of them even pulled Roxas by the arm. I smiled slightly at the scene. Namine knew these kids. She'd obviously seen them before, and been seeing them for some time. I assumed this was where she'd been coming after school everyday…and now she was showing Roxas.

She trusted him that much?

But what if, like Olette, Roxas was just trying to get on her good side so that he…he could…

No. Roxas wasn't like that. He wouldn't do anything like that to Namine…

…would he?

Was that where Namine's bruises were coming from?

No…impossible.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I miraculously managed to find my way home, and Mum was waiting for me.

When she saw that I wasn't with Namine she just about went ballistic.

"Where is she? I told you to be coming home with her!"

I'd been thinking of a lie I could tell her ever since I'd left the Shelter, so it wasn't that hard to answer. "She's taking extra Art classes after school…" To prevent oncoming questions, I added: "…and her boyfriend's back so she's staying with him."

This didn't sit well with Mum. "She's fifteen. How can she be _living _with her boyfriend? It's not right. Eric can't have allowed this when he was alive. And Namine…" Mum shook her head. "No, I won't allow it."

I knew her arguing was pointless, because Namine wasn't going to listen no matter how many times Mum told her. I'd never seen Namine's boyfriend, but I was pretty sure leaving him had never crossed her mind.

So I cooked up another lie—well, a sorta-lie this time. "You can't take Namine's boyfriend away from her. He's probably the only one she can relate to. Taking him away would only make her depression worse."

"Who said she's depressed?"

I gave Mum a look.

Mum sighed. "Alright. Fine. But I'll have to see this…boyfriend of hers. Coming to think of it, I don't even know his _name_!"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

My lie actually turned out to be true—Namine _had _gone back to living with her boyfriend, whoever-he-was. When I went upstairs to my room I realized all her stuff had gone. Well, except her old sneakers, but she probably didn't need those anyway.

Tidus was officially in the glee club—his name was listed now, much to Yuna's chagrin. For some reason, what happened at the Paopu Palace had the opposite effect on her; she seemed eager to say as little to Tidus as she possibly could.

You had to be blind to realize how much this was hurting Tidus. He tried as hard as he could to get her attention, but she just…well. Blew him off completely.

I asked Lenne and Rikku whether we should talk to Yuna about this, but Lenne just shook her head, saying it was a horrible, horrible idea.

On the bright side, our set list for Regionals was taking shape, finally. We'd been working on it, and we'd convinced Yuna to make the set list a lot less, well…sexy.

When I told Sora this on Monday in English Lit, he just grinned suggestively at me. "You know you didn't _have_ to do that."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Sometimes I forget you're a guy."

"Ouch."

I grinned at him, and he smiled back. "So, this afternoon, right? Your house or mine?"

I thought for a bit. "Um…well I've got some stuff going on at mine, so how bout yours?"

And, no, this wasn't a lie. Something _was _going on at mine.

Something that I hoped would be, well, big.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We walked into Sora's house and were immediately greeted with an array of curses.

I glanced uncertainly at Sora, who looked pretty embarrassed, judging from the way he was blushing.

"I _told _you to quit callin' me!" I heard someone snap. I had a feeling he was on the phone. But who was it? His dad? No…he'd left ages ago…his stepdad? I was corrected as the guy on the phone came into view.

His hair was almost completely identical to Sora's, except it was a jet-black color instead of chocolate brown. He was lean, but he was muscular, and his abs were seemingly rippling underneath his plaid shirt. He was glaring at the phone like it had just insulted him, or something.

"Just cause we fucked once or twice doesn't _automatically _mean we're in a relationship!" He poured himself some orange juice as he shouldered his mobile phone. "Look, I'm just not in the mood for sex, aight?" Whoever he was talking to had obviously said something he didn't like, because he slammed the carton on the table in disgust. "And _you _can go stick a shower hose up your—"

Sora cleared his throat, cutting him off and catching his attention. He turned to us, glancing at me then back to Sora, and I realized his eyes were amber.

I remembered I'd seen him in the car a while back, after we'd won the Sectionals. Suddenly I realized who he was. He was Sora's stepbrother. What was his name…?

He grinned, and I realized how similar it was to Sora's. He turned back to his phone call, and I vaguely understood what he was talking about. Actually, I wasn't really eager to know what 'throwing a sausage down a hallway' meant.

He cut the call and turned to us, running up to us with his glass of orange juice still in hand.

"Hey, slow down, you're getting juice all over my carpet!" Sora whined.

He smirked. "That's what she said."

Sora facepalmed, and I wasn't sure whether to laugh at his joke or not. "Kairi, this is Vanitas."

I opted for giggling, but I had a feeling it came out shaky and not at all natural. "N-Nice to finally meet you…Vanitas." Vanitas? Who'd name their child _Vanitas _unless they hated him? Didn't vanitas mean empty, or something like that?

Vanitas gave me a look, and I tried not to flinch. His eyes were so amber…I'd never seen eyes that color before.

He drained his glass, motioning for us to follow him to the kitchen. "So…he's already told you a lot about me, hasn't he?"

I glanced at Sora. "~Well…not really…all he's really told me is that you're his halfbrother." Which was true. Sora had hardly told me anything about him.

Vanitas gaped incredulously. "What? Well THAT makes me sound interesting!"

I giggled, liking Vanitas already. I didn't really know why. There was just something in his voice that…well, made me feel comfortable. Despite the fact that he looked like a clubbie and smelt faintly of cigarettes…well.

Vanitas smiled, the corners of his lips tilting up. "Well. I'm Vanitas, I'm twenty-three, and currently…" He paused for a bit. "…single." _Huh. Figures. _I thought. _He probably has way too many girls to be able to say he's in a relationship_. "I bang girls, I bang guys; it depends." _Okay, that's just disturbing_. "I like baseball, Prison Break, and sex."

I thought the last part was unnecessary, and Sora seemed to agree with me. His cheeks were almost the color of my hair now. He looked totally embarrassed. Well, I would, if my brother was like that. Well, maybe. Honestly, I thought Vanitas was pretty…well, fun.

"Van!" Sora groaned, covering my face.

"What? She's got to know this stuff." Vanitas turned to me, his twenty-three-year-old amber eyes playful. "I lost my virginity at fourteen, you know. It was at this house party at some senior's; the girl was sixteen and she tasted like parmesan." As he tapped on the side of his glass, I wondered why he was telling me this. I had to force myself to erase the horrible images he'd put in my head.

Van grinned again, and I felt at ease once more. "But enough about me. I'm awesome, but not _that _awesome. What about you? I know who you are—I mean, Sora talks about you a lot. And when I say a lot I mean A LOT—"

"_Van!_" Sora hissed, cutting him off.

I gave Sora a skeptical look. He talked about me? And how much was 'a lot'? "Really? What does he say about me?"

Sora and Van must have had some kind of telepathic exchange, because Vanitas said: "Meh, nothing really."

"But you said—"

"So, what about you?" Vanitas pulled himself a chair in front of us, totally dismissing my question. "Age? Cup-size? Sexual orientation?"

I had no idea how to answer that, so I was pretty thankful when Sora cut him off again with a punch in the arm. "Sorry, he's a bit of a perv."

"A _bit _of a perv?" Van snorted, as if Sora was insulting him. "Come ON—that's just insulting! I am the Prince of Pervs, the President of Pervsville, the mayor of Persyllvania—"

"Let's go, Kairi," Sora hissed, taking me by the wrist in a huff. I gave Vanitas a smile for the sake of it, trying not to laugh.

Vanitas' voice roared. "Whoo! Holding hands already, huh? I like where this is goin'! And remember, Sora, use protection! There's a whole drawer of the stuff in your bathroom, so—"

Sora slammed the door, but I could still faintly hear his laugh.

"Sorry about that," Sora muttered, looking pretty pissed. "He's…he's like that. He can be a bit annoying."

I laughed. "Naw, I think he's pretty cool."

"Remind me again why we're not doing this at your house?"

My smile turned into a full-fledged grin. "Well…I suppose I should keep it a secret but…" I eventually couldn't hold it in any longer and just blurted it out. "NAMINE AND ROXAS ARE ON A DATE!"

Sora blinked, shocked beyond belief. "What?"

I nodded. Well, this wasn't completely true…but I was totally a shipper for the Namixas pairing (haha, courtesy Sora), and…well. When I found out that Namine was inviting Roxas over after school (yes, because I'd accidentally eavesdropped on a conversation again) while Dad and Mum were out at work…

"Really?" Sora gasped, eyes lighting up. "How come? He didn't tell me—"

"Okay, so I'm maybe stretching the facts a little." I shrugged. "But I heard her inviting Roxas over, and I didn't want to get in the way."

I left Sora pondering on this as I set up the music. "So, what song?"

As we sang, I hoped that Namine and Roxas were happy, enjoying each others' presence, too.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Valentine's Day. A holiday people hate, and a holiday people love. It just depends on your relationship status, libido, friendship circle, family, earnings, and, well, personality.

I, personally, didn't mind this holiday.

I hadn't gotten presents ever since…before The Incident. Well, apart from one from That Guy Who Worked In The Corner Shop back in the Garden—and he'd given me a new pair of laces for my converse sneakers. Not the most romantic gift, I know.

Before The Incident, Valentine's Day had been an okay holiday, because…well, I'd always had a few admirers. Sure, I'd been pretty plain and I hadn't ever been flirty, but I guess I'd always been known as a 'nice little girl'. Seriously, my teachers never had anything bad to say about me, since I had that whole girl-next-door thing going on and everyone seemed to like me.

I didn't expect, though, what happened to me on the fourteenth of February.

When I arrived, passing by Riku, who's car was being flanked on all sides by 'fangirls', screaming at him to take their presents—and I'm not even joking—this actually happened. They were all there waiting for him to open his car so they could shower him with their chocolates and flowers and whatever. It sickened me—I was stopped by a guy with dusty-brown hair and a lady-killer smile. He must have been on the Blitz team as well, because somehow I knew his name was Jack. He grinned at me, holding out a bouquet of roses. _How cliché_, I thought.

I felt bad saying no to him—I mean, he looked like a pretty nice guy, and he seemed pretty serious—until he offered to be my sex buddy instead.

Before I had gotten to my locker, I had been asked out by more than fifteen people, and bouquets and bouquets of flowers had been pushed into my hands. I loved flowers, don't get me wrong, but the mixture of smells made me feel nauseous. It was weird, really, how many people proclaimed to like me…

I got to my locker and tried to place all the flowers in it without destroying them all, and failed. Sighing, I was trying to take out a book for my first class when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to see a guy with silver hair—though not a shiny as Riku's—grinning suggestively at me, offering me a bouquet of magnolias. I had a feeling he didn't even know what magnolias meant.

I blushed in embarrassment, trying to smile. I was seriously getting tired of this… "H-Hey."

"Happy Valentine's Day, beautiful," he replied cockily. I remembered he was called Kuja, and he was one of the guys on the Blitz team…maybe. I didn't really like the smirk he had on his face…

"Th-thanks…" I giggled nervously. "Um—"

"Go out with me?" He continued. "I'll make it worth your while."

_What the hell?_ "Uh…" I was comptemplating whether to take the flowers from him or not. He was squeezing them way too hard and I was pretty sure he'd kill them if I didn't save them in time. "I…I can't."

He frowned. "Honestly? This is because of Sora, isn't it?"

I blinked at him. "What?"

"Honestly, you could do so much better than him." Kuja leaned closer to me, and I took an instinctive step backwards. "What does he have that I don't have, huh?"

"…leave me alone…" I mumbled, trying not to frown. The two guys behind him, some other Blitz guys who I was sure I'd heard had slept with at least six girls on the cheer team each, were waiting impatiently for me to reply.

Kuja tried a different approach, his frown turning into a cocky grin. "C'mon, Kairi. I'll be good to you…gentle…"

I blushed harder, but shook my head firmly. "I'm sorry, Kuja, but the answer is no."

"Come on, at least give me a chance," Kuja crooned, taking a step forward. I warily glanced at the flowers. He'd probably killed them by now.

I took another look at Kuja's face. He was an okay-looking guy, but that smile…it put me off. It was obvious what kind of guy he was.

I had a feeling he wasn't going to let me go until I said yes, though. And I had no intention of saying yes.

I started to panic. Where were Yuna, Rikku and Lenne when I needed them? Why weren't _they _the ones being hit on?

I was about to make up some lame excuse about needing the bathroom when Sora came into view. I had never been happier to see him than at that moment. "Sora!"

Kuja flinched when he heard that name, and I didn't wait for him to react before running up to Sora and hugging him as tightly as I could. I waited for a while, until my heart had stopped thumping.

I had to tiptoe a little to whisper in his ear. "Are they gone?"

He was quiet for a while, but then he finally said yes.

I let go of him, and we started walking to homeroom. "So, how's your morning been for you?" Sora grinned. "Shooting down every man that proposes must be fun, huh?"

"I'm not shooting them down, because they're not proposing," I snapped, feeling embarrassed. "They're just…asking me out."

"Told ya you were likeable," Sora snickered. "And you didn't believe me."

Okay, so he was right. Whatever. But…"You're likeable too, you know. I bet your hands will be full with presents by home time."

"Well I bet fifty munny that I'll be going home empty handed," Sora scoffed. I couldn't help but frown sadly when I heard that. Sora was a _really _nice guy. I didn't get how no one else saw that.

Sora must have noticed. "What?"

I smiled at him. "Don't worry, this year it'll be different, I promise."

He rolled his eyes, obviously not believing me. "It's been like that since first grade, Kai. I don't think it's gonna change anytime soon."

"Well, I do," I mumbled. And I meant it. Someday…everyone was going to realize how awesome Sora was, and then he'd have admirers, and…

For some reason, that thought didn't really sit well with me.

I tried a different approach. "Even if it doesn't; getting presents isn't as awesome as it sounds. My locker _pongs_."

Sora shrugged. "Hm. Well Riku's _car _must smell a lot worse."

I felt a pang of jealousy, and then I started babbling. "Yeah. Poor him. I mean, practically _all _the girls are getting him presents. Even Lenne. And she's got a boyfriend. What the hell? Can't they get a hint? He doesn't want to go out with them. Duh. That's why he never stays with any of them for long. I mean, they're all shallow and fake and all they want Riku for is—"

I would have gone on for ages if I hadn't bumped into Riku.

I blushed.

"Oh, hey, Kairi." He smiled at me, and I struggled not to forget where I was. I'd completely forgotten the effect his smiles had on me.

"Hey yourself," I replied, trying to, you know, act totally cool. I reached into my bookbag and pulled out a packet of cinnamon rolls. "I know this isn't the best present, but I figured you'd get sick of chocolate and flowers. Happy Valentine's Day!"

Okay, so I know what you're all probably thinking. Wasn't I the one who was going on about his fangirls being stupid? HYPOCRITE? Yeah, I have got to admit, I was sort of acting fangirlish as well. I didn't really have a right to make fun of them.

But…something just told me I had to get a present for him.

Well, when I overheard a bunch of Riku fangirls in the locker rooms talking about stuff Riku liked, I ran to the shop and bought cinnamon rolls immediately after school on impulse. I resisted the urge to face palm. Since when did I act like _them_?

Much to my pleasure, Riku laughed when he saw it. "Thanks. How did you know how much I loved cinnamon?"

I had a feeling he was just being nice, but tried not to let my unease show. "I did some recon," I joked (yeah, lamest joke ever, I know). "Nah, just kidding. I overheard some of your fangirls discussing your likes and dislikes."

I had a feeling totally embarrassed myself.

Riku grimaced. "They actually do that."

"Yup," I said, for lack of anything better to say.

What followed next was an awkward grinning session that for some reason didn't feel that awkward. That sentence made no sense, and neither did our current situation.

After a while, Riku spoke up, clearing his throat. "No, this is really awesome…it makes my present seem like shit."

"Y-You got me a present?" I gasped when he nodded and pulled out a huge parcel.

And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. Well, small enough to fit in his bookbag. Which, by the way, wasn't the one he usually used—the one with the cut in the arm strap—but another bigger one. Actually, I wasn't even sure it _was _a bookbag, I mean—

Anyway, that's by the point.

"Oh my god, thank you!" I tried not to act too fangirlish as he placed it in my waiting arms. I didn't even know what it was, but I was still trying to get over the fact that he, Riku Harada, had given _me _a present.

"Don't mention it." My heart thumped dangerously when he winked at me and turned on his heels flawlessly.

I was blushing too hard to realize I was staring at his butt.

I tried to control my beating heart, and failed. I felt dangerously warm. I gripped the parcel, trying to figure out why he'd given it to me. What did it mean? Why…did he give it to me because…he liked me?

_What the hell, Kairi. Quit jumping to conclusions. Not EVERYONE has a crush on you. _

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I was getting my stuff from my locker before English Literacy when Yuna snapped.

Lenne cursed under her breath. "He did _not _just do that."

"Do what?" I asked, but when I looked up I found out what she was talking about.

Tidus was talking to a girl, presumably a freshman, but that wasn't the thing that shocked us the most.

In his hands was a set of lacy pink underwear.

The freshman girl was blushing crazily when Yuna stormed up to them, her eyes radiating death.

"Tidus," Yuna hissed. "_What _are you doing?"

Tidus blinked at her, shocked, but quickly got over it and managed to put on a deadpan expression. "What's it look like? I'm giving her a present."

Yuna clenched her teeth, and turned to the girl. "What grade are you in?"

"I-I'm a s-sophomore," she stuttered, blushing.

Yuna's frowned deepened. "Is this some kind of sick joke, Tidus?"

Tidus shook his head. "No…not really."

Yuna huffed. "You're such a douche, Tidus."

Tidus' nonchalant demeanor fell. "Look, Yuna, what is your problem? You're the one who's acting like a bitch—oh, so now I can't give a girl a bra?" He leaned dangerously close to her, the strap of the bra dangling on his index finger.

And then Yuna slapped Tidus, hard across his cheek.

It was strangely quiet in the hallway. Tidus stumbled backwards from the impact, but he was too shocked to react any other way. The sophomore girl squealed and ran away, while Yuna just glared murderously.

She pressed her lips together, dropping her hand, which I noticed was red now. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. "You really need to learn how to talk to women."

And then Yuna stormed off.

Lenne sighed. "I'd better go help her out. She's gonna rip her hair out if I don't." She gave me a smile. "Have fun in English."

Lenne left, and I was about to go to English, until I saw Tidus, who was still there, leaning against someone's locker with a blank expression. He was obviously still shocked over what had happened. His cheek was a darkish red color…Yuna had really hit him hard.

"Tidus…?" I whispered, approaching him tentatively. He didn't notice I was calling him until I tapped his arm.

He blinked at me with his frosty blue eyes, and I wondered why the hell Yuna didn't want to date a guy as good-looking as him.

"You okay?" I asked.

Tidus stared at me for a bit, and then shook his head. "Yeah I'm…I'm fine."

He got up off the lockers then, and I watched him in worry as he walked off, the underwear still clenched tightly in his hands.

Sighing, I shook my head and headed off to English.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Sora looked grumpy in English—and I _hated _it when Sora was grumpy. Coming to think of it, he'd been grumpy since…well, since after the time he saved me from Kuja. This probably had to do with the fact that his locker had been vandalized by some douchebags on the Blitzball team. Or maybe because, for some reason, everyone was glaring at _Sora _when they got rejected. I felt sorry for him, because he had nothing to do with my decision.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "You've been grumpy all day."

"No I haven't," he mumbled, unloading his bookbag. "You've just been too happy."

"Aw, come on," I groaned. I hated it when he was like this. I tried to figure out what was wrong. "This isn't about the present thing, is it?"

"To be honest, Kai, I don't give a fuck about presents," he snapped.

I frowned. "Well someone's in a bad mood."

He sighed dismissively, as if he really didn't feel like replying. I was trying to focus on not pouting when he pulled out his pencilcase and something slipped out, falling onto the floor.

It was a piece of parchment paper, which probably cost about 20 munny, wrapped with a bright red ribbon.

"What's this?" I picked it up, curious. I wondered whether he'd used my ribbon, and then I remembered I'd already used it to fix his bookbag.

Sora blushed, shaking his head. "I-It's nothing—"

But by then I'd opened it. "For Kairi?" I smirked, a weird sensation bubbling in the pit of my stomach. (And, no, it wasn't indigestion.) "This is for me, huh?"

* * *

"_To Kairi. Yeah, so this is probably gonna sound lame…but I wrote this sorta-poem for you. Don't laugh. _

_**My Hope**_

_My heart grew dark. _

_I feel it aching…I feel it pleading for the pain to stop…the love that was once in me was now loss…consumed by this horrific void that was taking me over._

_It began long ago when I made but one wish. _

_Some wish for riches, some for fame, some for romance._

_Me however, my wish was far different. _

_My wish was for something far greater. _

_Something worth more than all diamond mines in the world: a good friend and true friendship._

_Down the passages of time, I met many that I called friends and they called me theirs._

_I gave unto them my respect, love, and trust. _

_I even considered them family. _

_But in the end...my gifts were met with scorn, hate, and the haunting taste of betrayal._

_They had unveiled their true selves: phantoms and deceivers hiding behind a veil of fake friendship to bait those they deem weak so that they can prey on and get what they want._

_I fell to the bait and like a pack of carnivores they ravaged my heart...and the void was born._

_All my happiness, all my purity, all my light; all gone…all gone. _

_The only thing that remained was the memory of the wish I made so long ago. _

_But the realization of such a wish never coming to pass only strengthened the void. _

_All hope faded away..._

_Until...she came. The miracle of miracles. Kairi. _

_Her beauty could not be rivaled to any and her heart was as pure as light itself. _

_She entered my life not with the ill intentions or malevolence, but with something that I never thought could exist._

_The one thing I wished so hard for and sought more than anything was the very thing she brought into my life. _

_Treasure that was beyond priceless: a good friend and true friendship. _

_She was the wish. It had come true. _

_The gifts that I had tried to give on to those before her, she had brought them to me. _

_And I so happily gave back. _

_The void that had once tormented me within weakened and hastily faded away...thanks to her. _

_The positive and loving emotions that populated the dominion in me had returned...thanks to her. _

_My heart once ravaged was now whole again free from the torments that could harm and break it...thanks to her._

_She gave unto me a friendship as strong as a mighty chain and I will continue to weld it till not even the flames of the Sun itself could break it. _

_A wish that had seemed so simple but so impossible to attain had finally come to pass._

_She was a good friend and shared with me true friendship. _

_And I will hold on to it...till the end of my days._

_Kairi. My good friend..._

_My shining light..._

_My hope..._

_THE END_

* * *

"This…this is a poem?" I realized how shaky my voice had gotten, and then I realized my eyes were burning.

"Kairi? Are you okay?" I heard Sora whisper, and I felt him rubbing my back.

"Y-Yes I'm—" I sniffed, trying to take control of myself and stop being such a crybaby. Okay, so his poem was freaking beautiful, but that wasn't a reason for me to burst into tears, was it?

Okay. So it was.

"Sora this is amazing."

Sora stared, surprised. I felt like slapping him—why was he so damn modest? He was an amazing writer, yet he always denied it whenever someone told him so. That someone being me.

He scratched the back of his head meekly. "Wow, um. Thanks?"

I eventually couldn't take it anymore. He was so freaking adorable.

I pulled him into a hug, not caring how everyone else was looking at us weirdly. So what? None of them had a best friend who sang them to sleep and hugged them when they were sad and wrote _poems _dedicated to them.

From that moment on, things started to get a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

**Yeah…you're probably thinking 'WHAT THE HELL?'. Yeah…I fail. If I could draw the fail whale, I would.**

**Anyway…HAPPY LATE SOKAI DAY! Yeah…SoKai Day was September 17****th****…I totally sucked by posting that DEATH TO SOKAI chappie of Addicted… *facepalms* But, you know, stuff happen. **

**About the 'poem'. Yeah. Not really…'poem'-y. I didn't really know what to call it. It's like…a ballad…or something.**

**Whatever it is, I HONESTLY CANNOT THANK MANCO ENOUGH FOR THAT. I LOVE YOU. A big shoutout to Manco for that submission. :D Seriously…YOU ARE AN AMAZING WRITER! ALL YOU NEED IS TO WRITE A STORY! **

**Anyway…to all you other readers…THANKS FOR THE THREE-HUNDRED REVIEWS ON ADDICTED! I LOVE YOU! I never thought this day would come… *sniff***

**Yeah…watched 500 Days of Summer and am now in love with the song 'Us' by Regina Spektor. I just HAVE to insert that movie into this fic somehow. It is an amazing movie I suggest all romance fans should watch. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in that movie reminded me of a grown-up version of Sora…**

**500 Days of Summer is about a pair of friends with benefits, and is an amazingly romantic love story with a message. I mean, I nearly cried after watching it. *sniff***

**Well…I guess that's enough ranting for now. Thank you all for your submissions! And don't think I've forgotten about any of them… xD If you're patient, a lot of them will appear soon! ^_^ **

**XXXXXX **

**P.S: New poll on my page! Yeah, cause I roll like that. **

**P.P.S: Yes. You still have to wait until the next chappie to find out about Riku's chappie. Seriously. I suck. **


	21. Lanterns

**A/N: Oh my god she is seriously getting on my nerves…CATCH UP WITH THE OTHERS ALREADY GAH. **

**Have any of you guys read White Knight by _The Infinite Dani-Chan Replika_? I'm halfway through…and it is honestly AWESOME. SERIOUSLY. WAY BETTER THAN THIS FIC. GO READ IT NOW. **

**Replies… **

**KHFanlover: Haha I shall. And getting raped sucks. I haven't experienced it…but I've read books about it. **

**Superpeanutbutter: Haha thanks! The poem was cute…totally not mine though. Can't stress that enough. :D Kairi opens it in this chappie… :D **

**Soraandkairiforever: THANKYOUUUU! :D Enjoy! **

**About this chappie: FLUFF TO THE EXTREME! Some KaiNam…RokuNami…SoKai…RiKai…THE DRILL! And a bunch of friendship whatever blah. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own KH or any of the songs in this chappie. (Super Bass…) So don't, like, sue me or anything.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Tidus joins the glee club._

"I figured you'd need some help."

_Olette has a secret. _

"…there's something you should know about…Roxas."

_Namine works in the shelter. _

I assumed this was where she'd been coming after school everyday…and now she was showing Roxas.

_I meet Vanitas…_

I am the Prince of Pervs, the President of Pervsville, the mayor of Persyllvania—"

_I get a huge parcel from Riku._

I didn't even know what it was, but I was still trying to get over the fact that he, Riku Harada, had given _me _a present.

_And an even bigger one from Sora. _

"This…this is a poem?"

_Yeah. I'm not really sure…but I have a weird feeling things are gonna get a lot more complicated from now on._

* * *

**Chapter 21: Lanterns**

I felt horrible for not getting Sora a gift for Valentine's when he'd gotten me such a cute one. No—he'd _written _me one. A poem. I really couldn't get over it.

I loved it so much that I even let Namine see it when she came home—(Mum had made it mandatory that Namine spend at least an hour with us every day)—and asked her to decorate it with doodles so I could put it in a frame, maybe. It was the cutest poem ever and if anything happened to it I would have cried.

Sure, he made a few punctuation errors, forgot some capitals, and he'd obviously used spell-check for some of the spellings, but it didn't do anything to hide how beautiful it was.

I ran my fingers over the twenty-dollar paper that evening, rereading the poem. Nami's doodles were running up and down the page—mini pictures of things Sora and I had done up til then. It was amazing how much Namine knew—maybe Roxas was telling her all this? I didn't ever remember telling Namine how Sora and I had gone to watch fireworks under the stars…with Riku of course.

Riku! I suddenly remembered the huge parcel I'd hauled home, and ran to my wardrobe to retrieve it. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten…

It was still there, of course, and I started to rip off the wrapping paper like it was a Christmas present. There was a huge cardboard box inside, and after opening it I found a small black case. My heart started thudding. Was it what I thought it was?

No. It was even better.

It was a uniquely colored teardrop-shaped pendant, and I couldn't hold back a gasp. It glinted in the sun whenever I tilted it, and it even came with two chains—one black, one silver—and a silver bracelet with the words '_all my love_' engraved on it. I'm one of those girls who's a sucker for jewelry, so the present was kind of a big deal.

But that wasn't all. There was something else in the box, obviously, judging from all the bubble-wrap and pink fluff that were spilling over the edge.

I cleared out all the fluff and bubble-wrap and gasped once again when I got to the next present.

It was a huge gift basket, filled to the brim with dozens and dozens of candy, bubble baths, body soaps…and all that. It all looked pretty darn expensive. And awfully _pink_. But the thing that caught my eye the most was the bright-pink Cupid bear with a heart stitched onto its fur.

I picked it up and squeezed it a little, and couldn't help but snort at the squeaky sound it made. Okay, so I'd been a teddy bear person…back in the day when I still liked Simple Plan and liked the color pink.

I couldn't help but feel giddy when I remembered it was _Riku _who had gotten me all of it. He'd gotten _me _a Valentine's present! But…why?

"Because he likes you, you dummy," was what Lenne said a few seconds later when I called her up and asked her this. "He always gets the girls he likes presents."

"…so this isn't a onetime thing?"

"Nope. Go for it."

I said thanks and hung up the phone, sighing. I was starting to think the blush on my cheeks had the risk of becoming permanent. I placed the basket back in my wardrobe—the pink was really starting to bug me—but kept the Cupid bear, the saffron-scented perfume, the jewelry case and a pack of Skittles.

I sighed and decided to get started on my homework. I was going through my folder when I saw Sora's poem again…

My thoughts drifted back to Sora's poem. For some reason, I felt his present was sort of…better. I had a feeling that if I told Lenne or Yuna or Rikku this they'd just stare at me like something was wrong with me.

The guilt of not getting Sora anything started nagging at me again, and I found it pretty hard to concentrate on my Chemistry homework. What should I get Sora? What kind of things did Sora like? What would Sora want for Valentine's?

And then I had an idea.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Sora opened the door to house the next morning, which was what I'd been hoping for. He was in his boxer shorts and a faded t-shirt, but this didn't really bother me. I'd gotten used to Sora walking around in his underwear by now.

"Hey, Kai!" He smiled and stepped to the side to let me in.

"He~ey," I sang. I was in a pretty good mood. I plunked myself down on his sofa. "So, what you watchin'?"

He grinned from ear to ear, as if he'd been waiting for me to ask that. "Teenage Wasteland," he explained. "It's a show that gives every teenager the opportunity to be a star! It's a little bit like Big Brother, except with teenagers. For two whole months, only teenagers will be in the resort! No adults—well, accept for the staff, but other than that, its heaven!"

I'd started to get bored by then. I wasn't really into reality shows. And, no, I didn't like _Keeping up with the Kardashians_. "Wow." I cleared my throat, ready to reveal my surprise. "Anyway—"

"I am _so _jealous of them," he interjected. "They get free trips, free games, fangirls _and _publicity, just for winning some contest. There's even a 'World Showcase' on there, which is basically like Epcot but better." He sighed wistfully. "What I'd give to live on a tropical island."

I rolled my eyes. He lived on frickin' _Paradise _and he was complaining. "You _do _live on a tropical island."

"Yeah, but do I have fangirls, publicity, free trips—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get your point!" I sighed, rolling my eyes again. It was starting to become a habit. And then I decided to get on with it before he cut me off again. "Anyway, there was a reason I came by here, apart from my vital need to see you every day."

He laughed at my tiny joke.

"Well, after you gave me _your _present, I realized I hadn't gotten _you _one."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't say?"

"…so…" I continued, ignoring his disinterest. He was _so _gonna be interested when I showed him…

I pulled out the two tickets I'd gotten and flashed them in his face. "TADA!"

I waited for his response.

He cleared his throat. "Wow…uh."

I frowned, disappointed. "Don't you know what these are?"

He thought for a moment, and he really seemed to be thinking hard. But I was getting impatient. And when he finally said "Yellow paper?", I snapped.

"TICKETS!" I bellowed very ungirlishly. "TICKETS TO SEE TANGLED! IN IMAX 3D!"

And then he got it. His eyes widened. "You didn't."

I felt myself grin. "Uh-huh!"

We had a mini squealing session, and he glomped me, tickling my sides and making me giggle even more. Yeah—it was another one of _those _moments.

As soon as I could regain my breath, I patted him on the head. Like a puppy. "Happy late Valentine's!"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We left at around three, because I had to wait for Sora to get dressed. Sure, the movie was at seven thirty, but I wasn't gonna risk anything. The tickets had actually cost quite a lot—and I had had to use my pocket munny.

The bus ride took quite a while, but we eventually arrived there. Sora made us stop at a grocery store because he didn't want me to spend any more munny on snacks, which, I suppose was a good idea. Watching a movie just wasn't the same without popcorn. Or Coca Cola.

After feeding on ice cream as we waited in the queue for about an hour, we finally made it inside. Sora gaped, as if he'd never seen a cinema before. I'd been to the cinema once or twice with the girls, but I still hadn't gotten used to how it looked either. I didn't think he noticed, though. I wondered if he'd ever been to a cinema before…

"You know, this is my first time of going to a cinema," Sora declared as we sat down, validating exactly what I'd been thinking.

"You serious?"

He nodded and shrugged. "Yup. I've always just waited for the DVD to come out, or for the movie to start showing on TV."

"…Oh." I thought about asking him to elaborate…but then I figured it had something to do with his family and…yeah. I didn't want to push it.

We sipped silently on our drinks for a while, and I absently watched as people flooded into the cinema. I remembered a game Nam and I always used to play in cinemas—look at peoples faces and make up stories about them. Namine had always been good at this, and I figured Sora would have been, too. I mean, I'd seen his creative writing.

I was about to suggest we play the game when Sora spoke up. "Hey, um, wait. I forgot to give you something." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a seashell.

I stared at him. "A seashell?"

"Yeah, uh…" He cleared his throat. "It's part of my Valentine's present."

I took it from him and examined it. It was blue with a hint of yellow—a weird color for a seashell. But…yeah…I didn't see what was so special about it. "Wow. I…"

He laughed, picking up on my skepticism. "Yeah, I know you're probably thinking it's not that much of a present, right?"

"No," I lied, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "It's…I like seashells."

He smirked at me. "Well, this seashell has sentimental value." He grinned. "That's what makes it special. That, and the fact that if you look very closely, you can make out a dolphin."

I did. I hadn't noticed it before, but it actually did look like… "Wow. This seashell just got a whole lot better."

He laughed and I grinned, bringing the shell to my ear. Yup—there it was, the sound of waves. Mmm. Sounds like the sea." I closed my eyes. "Thanks. This present's awesome."

And it was. I really hoped he'd like my present. I mean, two presents? Was he _trying _to make me feel guilty or something?

The lights dimmed, and, after waiting for the adverts to roll by, the movie began.

I'd never really been a Disney fanatic, but, to be honest, the movie was actually…nice. I fell in love with the animation immediately, and I was pretty proud of myself for getting it in 3D. The female lead, Rapunzel, had the most gorgeous hair ever, and—of course—she could sing. The male lead was way good-looking too—it was pretty entertaining just watching him speak. I couldn't remember any other Disney lead that had looked as good as him…except maybe that jungle guy…Tarzan, wasn't it?

Anyway, Sora seemed to like it pretty much, which, I guess, was all that mattered. He managed to learn half the lyrics to the songs and wouldn't even take his eyes off the screen when I tried to talk to him. He didn't even take a break to use the bathroom.

I was a sucker for romance, but usually live-action romance, so it was pretty surprising how much I ended up liking it. By the end I was practically crying. Weird.

We stayed right up until the credits had finished, only leaving when the cleaning guys started to come and clean up. Sora didn't laugh at me fore crying over a fictional character, though. Probably because he was pretty teary-eyed as well.

Well. We weren't the only teenagers there. There were a bunch of others, and even some adults, who'd come on a date.

We shared the last tub of ice cream on the bus ride home. I felt pretty tired—it was probably almost eleven.

We were both tired, which was probably why we said so little. I wondered absently what Namine was doing…

"We should totally plan a date for them," I said after a while.

"Who?"

"Roxas and Namine, of course!" I said with a giggle. He just stared at me, and I decided I needed to elaborate. "You and I could go out for lunch together or something, and then we could drag Roxas and Namine along!"

"You mean…like a double date?"

I grinned. "Yup!" I paused, thinking. "I'm sure there's something going on between them. They have _got _to be more than just friends."

"…how do you mean?"

I shrugged. "You know. It's pretty obvious. The hugs, the holding hands…"

"But…we hug. And hold hands. And we're not…" His voice trailed off.

I shrugged again. "Yeah. But with us it's different. We understand each other. It's as if we've been friends since forever." I laughed lightly. "You're, like, the best friend I've never had." I smirked. "Now, Roxas and Namine…that's something totally different. They only smile around _each other_. It took me forever to get through to her. And Roxas…he just came out of nowhere and suddenly she's remembered how to smile."

And it was true. Namine hadn't smiled as much as she smiled around Roxas around anyone else. I'd followed her to the Children's Shelter a few more times after school, and I realized she volunteered to teach the little kids there. And Roxas…he was always there with her. Namine's eyes lit up whenever he entered a room, and…well, it was obvious, really. She was _so_ in love with him.

"I could say the same for Roxas," Sora said, bringing me back to the conversation. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. We walked in silence for a while, and then…

"Do you think it's possible for a girl and a guy to just be friends and not…fall in love with each other?"

"Sure. I mean, you and I are…" I stopped in my tracks, abruptly, and turned to him curiously. My palms felt sweaty, and I hadn't noticed Sora and I had been holding hands. "Sora…?"

I could barely read the expression on his face—it was so dark out. "I…"

It felt so, so awkward.

"Kairi…" I could feel his peppermint breath on my face, and I realized only then how close his face was to mine. I stared into his eyes, confused, curious, and strangely…apprehensive. My breath hitched when I felt him tuck some of my hair behind my ear. _What…what is he—?_

And then the front door to Sora's house flew open, and the moment ended.

Or maybe there hadn't really ever been a moment, and I was just imagining things.

It was Roxas, who was taking out the trash…in boxer shorts. I'd be lying if I said he didn't have an impressive body. Honestly. If Namine was there right then, she'd probably have a nosebleed.

He was humming along to some song he was listening to on his headphones, but he stopped when he realized we were there. "Oh."

"Hiya, Roxas," I said, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.

Roxas gave Sora a look. "Uh…hey."

It was weirdly quiet for a bit.

And then I couldn't stand it anymore, and decided I'd better head home. "Um…well g'night, Sora." I waved at him and ran into the house.

I slammed the door behind me, catching the attention of Mum and Dad, who were in the living room. I heard Mum ask how the movie was, and I yelled something about it being awesome before going to take refuge in my room.

What the hell was that? What…what just happened? I can't have just been imagining things…Sora had asked me if it was possible for guys and girls to be best friends without falling in love with each other…what did that _mean_? Did it, possibly, mean that he…maybe liked me?

No way. That'd be crazy.

I shook my head. I was reading _way _too much into it.

I lay back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. My hands absently found their way to the necklace. Yeah, so I was wearing it. I examined it again for a while, and my thoughts drifted to Riku.

Could he, possibly, like me as well? What did I mean by 'as well'? And how did I know for sure that _any_ of them liked me?

I sighed in exasperation and decided I was thinking too much. "You're just freaking out for nothing, Kairi," I told myself. "It was just a question. And it was just a present. Nothing more…"

I fell asleep telling myself all this.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"As you all know, the Blitzball Regionals are coming up," Fang announced on Friday afternoon in Cheer Practice. Her long blackish-brown hair was tied up in a ponytail. It didn't look good on her, but who was I to talk? She was the cheer captain, anyway, so if I said anything about her hair I'd probably be off the team. Okay, so I wasn't really the type who liked short skirts and flouncing around half-naked…but cheerleading was a good way to work out and I already had a bunch of friends on the cheer team.

"And you all know what that means." Fang clapped her hands together. "Yup, that's right—we need to come up with a new kickass cheer routine to lift up their spirits and make 'em win it!"

Something told me that most of the cheerleaders weren't convinced our team would win the Blitz Regionals. Hm.

"Oh, wait, I've thought of one!" Fang declared before anyone could raise their hand to suggest a song. She snapped her fingers and a freshman girl pressed the play button on the remote.

And so we were forced to watch Fang 'strut her stuff', which was basically a whole lot of hip-swinging, arm-and-leg pumping, and hair-swaying. It was obviously rehearsed, because I recognized the choreography from that feminist Beyonce song.

I wasn't exactly thrilled by the song choice and/or the choreography, for several reasons. One of them was that I didn't really like the idea of having to crawl on the floor like a tiger.

Thankfully, Yuffie shared my thoughts. "No offense, Fang, but…don't you think the song's a bit—I dunno—irrelevant?"

Fang's eyes narrowed and she waved her hand for the freshman girl to pause the music. "What do you mean?"

"Sure, I support your feminist cause and all," Yuffie continued. "But aren't we supposed to be cheering the _guys _on? To me it just seems like we're cheering for ourselves."

Everyone held their breath. I thought of nodding in agreement, but I stopped when I saw the intensity of Fang's glare. She apparently didn't like being contradicted. "Okay. What d'you suggest we do, then?"

"Well…" Yuffie grinned and took Penelo by the wrist. "Penelo's got an idea."

Penelo blushed profusely. "Wh-what—?"

"C'mon!" Yuffie urged. "Show her what you got!"

Penelo just stuttered nervously for a bit, shaking her head. "Yuffie—"

"C'mon!" Yuffie wasn't having it. Everyone's eyes was on Penelo now, waiting for her to do something.

Penelo pressed her lips together, and then she closed her eyes. Ten seconds passed without her moving at all. Fang seemed to be getting impatient. "Look, Blondie, we don't have all day—"

"This one is for the boys with the boomin' system, top down, AC with the coolin' system—when he come up in the club, he be blazin' up, got stacks on deck like he savin' up—and he ill, he real, he might gotta deal, he pop bottles and he got the right kind of bill, he cold, he dope, he might sell coke, he always in the air, but he never fly coach—he a muthafuckin trip, trip, sailor of the ship, ship, when he make it drip, drip kiss him on the lip, lip, that's the kind of dude I was lookin' for, and yes you'll get slapped if you're lookin'—"

"WHOA, whoa!" Fang cut her off, and Penelo's words died in her throat. "What was that?"

She frowned slightly. "I…I was rapping _Super Bass_—"

"No, I meant what was _that_?" Fang's frown turned into a smile.

Penelo blushed, obviously not expecting that. I don't think any of us were. "U-Uh…"

"That was grade-A beef," Fang answered. "You hardly stopped to breathe, baby!"

She shrugged, giggling nervously. "I…I've always kinda liked rapping…"

"Can you do that again?" Fang crossed her arms as Penelo started to rap again. Her nervousness slowly faded away as me and the rest of the girls on the team joined in at the chorus, and she even started to smile. Fang was nodding along to our song, while probably thinking of a possible choreography. She snapped her fingers just as we finished the second chorus. "Vanille!"

Vanille bounced up to her. "Here!"

"Think you could come up with choreography for this song?"

Vanille grinned, crossing her arms confidently. "Naturally."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Well, she did. I didn't know what it was with this school and slut-dancing, but, well, that's what we got.

Between cheerleading, Drama and glee club, it was amazing I had time for anything else at all.

Like all the random birthdays I ended up having to go to. Since I was a naturally nice person, I found it hard to reject birthday invitation. Heck, I found it impossible.

So I ended up in quite a few booze-and-boobs house parties, feeling as bored as hell. And the thing that sucked was that Riku hardly went to any of them, so there wasn't really anyone there I could hang out with. Lenne was usually off somewhere with Shuyin, and Yuna never really went to birthday parties of people she didn't really like. I.e. anyone who wasn't in our circle of friends. And Rikku…I wasn't really sure if I was as close to her as I was to Lenne and Yuna. I'd lost most of my respect for her after finding out she'd slept with a college guy.

Anyway, days passed. Sora seemed to be acting normally; I mean, I didn't notice anything different about how he acted. I concluded I was just imagining things, and that I shouldn't bring up the subject of…the awkward moment that day.

Namine swung buy every day and stayed for a maximum of an hour, per Mum's command. She rarely did much—sometimes she'd just come and sit in front of the TV and then leave as soon as the show she wanted to watch was over. Mum still wasn't comfortable with a fifteen-year-old girl living with her boyfriend, but we couldn't really do anything about it at the time. I guess Mum was afraid telling her to break up with The Mystery Boyfriend would affect her negatively and end up in her relapsing into drugs—like cocaine or heroin or something—like most teenage girls. Well, that's what Mum thought at least.

There was one day, though, that she was in an exceptionally good mood. She was _humming_, which, I guess was a good sign. I'd just come back from glee club—practicing our final number, which was reassuringly a lot less slutty that our other numbers—so I was in a pretty okay mood.

She was packing up her art stuff, and she was wearing her 'art outfit', which was basically an old denim skirt that was spattered with splotches of paint and her frilly white cami. Why she wore white to do art, I never knew.

She saw me and smiled slightly. I didn't even have to ask her. "I'm going out to paint a new scene I found. Wanna come?"

I stared at her, and nodded dumbly. Namine had actually started a conversation.

I changed into casual clothes, and then we headed out. We didn't take the bus, and we walked for ages. I started to feel wary as we approached a side of town I'd never really been before, and I started to feel scared as we went approached the forest.

"Where're we going?" I asked eventually, not liking the tall green trees at all. I didn't really like forests that much…

She didn't answer, and I was forced to follow her to find out.

Then suddenly we stopped, and she turned around. "We're here. Close your eyes."

"Huh?"

Namine's eyes told me she was serious, and I sighed, complying.

I felt her drag me through a few bushes, and some of the branches nipped at my leg. I heard her say sorry.

"Okay… now open them."

I did.

And then I gasped.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The Blitzball Regionals took place on the Monday of the last week of February. It was kinda big. It was, really, my first big game. The stadium was full, and I wondered, once again, how they managed to keep all the water in the Blitz sphere, and what would happen if it broke…

But, you know. That was nervousness taking its toll.

Because, you know, I was pretty nervous about making mistakes. Turns out there was a _lot _of back-flipping and kartwheeling and butt-shaking and arm-pumping in the routine, which meant if one person made a slip-up, everything would go down. It also meant that I'd have to show my butt to everyone in the stadium. Because, as you probably know, the cheer uniform wasn't that much longer than those skirts you see prostitutes wear.

The opposing team had professional-looking cheerleaders as well, dressed in more comfortable-looking outfits, with the old-fashioned sailor flap at the back and everything. I envied them.

Penelo looked as nervous as ever. She wouldn't quit chewing on her lip and pulling at the skirt, and every once in a while she'd randomly start whispering lyrics. And then she'd mix up words and start beating herself up over it.

"You okay?" I asked. We were waiting for the girls on the other team to finish their cheer routine, and Penelo had just moved onto a whole new level of anxiousness.

She turned to me and shook her head. "Uh-uh. I…I'm so nervous I think I'm gonna puke."

I smiled sympathetically at her. "I get how you feel. Happens to me all the time." I sighed. "I mean, I've sung at a glee club championship. In front of hundreds of people I didn't know at all."

Penelo sniffed. "…you ever get nervous?"

"Duh," I deadpanned. "But you know how I get over it?" She shook her head, and I continued. "Well, there's always the 'imagine them in underwear' trick, but, honestly, I find that mentally disturbing and not helpful at all." Penelo laughed, wiping her cheeks. "What I do is I think of the one most important person in my life…and imagine him or her watching me."

Penelo stared at me. "How does that help?"

"Well, I dunno. For me it's like, I want so hard to impress this person and make him/her happy, and I…well. I just do my best and forget about how nervous I am."

Penelo nodded slowly. "I guess…that would work."

And then it was time to begin.

Penelo rocked it. It was pretty hard to believe she'd ever been nervous. We went through the slut-fest cheer routine, and it was crazy how many cheers we got when we were done. A few guys on the team even winked at her.

I'd always felt sorry for Penelo. She'd just recently started hanging out with the cheerleaders and eating with them at the 'Cool Table', but she never seemed to be genuinely happy, for some reason, always gazing longingly at her old table. She looked pretty awkward sitting next to all the preppy cheer girls. And I, personally, thought she looked a lot better without all the make-up they decked on her.

Everyone gave Penelo a high-five when the song finished, giggling and going on about how awesome she was. The Blitz players came over to make-out with their girlfriends, leaving Penelo and me. She was still grinning meekly, blushing. I realized she had freckles.

I felt myself smile. "You were awesome."

"Thanks!" Penelo giggled. "You were too."

"So…" I asked with a smirk. "Who's the special person you thought about, huh?"

Penelo blushed, and looked away. "It's…" She giggled. "Promise you won't tell?"

I smiled. "Why would I?"

She took a deep breath and licked her lips nervously. "Well…it's a guy…who I've been crushing on for a long time."

I nodded, smirking. "Knew it. Do I know this guy?"

Penelo's blush deepened. "Yup. Actually, this guy is your best friend."

My heart skipped a beat. "What?"

"You guessed it," she giggled. "Yeah. It's Sora."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The Dolphins won the Blitzball Regionals with flying colors. This apparently didn't happen often, because everyone went crazy. I didn't really get the rules, but whatever—they _won_.

The hype was contagious, and I soon found myself shouting and cheering and yelling with the others. Lenne and Yuna, who had been hanging out in the stands—Lenne being there out of sheer obligation and Yuna being there to keep her company—to cheer us on. I soon found myself laughing for no exact reason.

Riku was so happy that he invited the whole team out for Starbucks, and Yuna clarified that when Riku said 'the whole team' he also meant us girls, because we were always included in social gathering invites. Riku didn't seem to mind us inviting ourselves, though, which was a good thing.

Anyway, we went to Starbucks, following Riku's car. It was, conveniently, the Starbucks near the beach. It was way too hot outside, and I had a feeling getting coffee was pretty stupid in this weather. I thought of taking off my shirt, but I didn't think about bringing a bikini like all the others, so I was stuck with my cheer top.

We were at the counter when I realized I recognized the girl at the counter. She was the black-haired girl I'd seen a while back during the winter holidays.

Riku seemed to recognize her as well. "Xion?"

She grinned, and I realized she was actually really pretty. "Hiya. Fancy meetin' you here!"

"What are you doing here?" Riku hissed.

"I work here," she answered, pointing at her nametag. "I've been working here since—"

"Wait, you know this girl?" Shuyin cut her off. He looked from the black-haired girl to Riku, then back to the black-haired girl.

"No." I noticed Riku was blushing. "Well, yes. Not really."

Shuyin nodded, and I heard some of the guys say stuff along the lines of 'yeah right' and 'loving her ass'. They obviously didn't believe him.

"Hey, um…why don't you guys grab a seat?" Riku sighed. "I'll…order instead."

We all left—me a bit reluctantly—to go find a table. Xion gave me a little smile, but I pretended I didn't see her.

We sat down, and I found myself looking over at the counter every five seconds.

"He is so hitting on her," Rikku commented, swatting absently at her boyfriend's—the college guy's—hand.

"Yeah, the douche is sexually frustrated," Tidus commented, earning a laugh out of the other guys on the table.

"You've got a point though." Shuyin agreed. "Poor guy hasn't had a date in, like, months."

"Which, if you know Riku, isn't normal," Vanille put in. She had this way of giggling after she said anything which made everything she said seem innocent.

Fang leaned on her palm. "Leave the guy alone. Maybe he's got a problem with his…you know."

Everyone thought about this for a while, and then Wakka burst into laughter. "Yeah. Right."

I glanced over at the counter again. Xion said something to Riku and I think I detected a smirk on his lips. I felt a pang of jealousy.

"Hey…you've all gone out with Riku, right?" Tidus gave me a glance. "'Cept you of course."

Every other girl on the table nodded.

"Did you guys ever really have sex?"

All of them shared looks, shaking their heads. I stared at them incredulously.

Fang frowned. "Well, we did make out quite a lot and sometimes it did get pretty intense but…" She shook her head.

"Not really, no…" Lenne said finally.

It took the whole table a while to digest this. I was shocked that Riku had lied to everyone, but at the same time…

I felt myself blush. What the hell? So what if he was a virgin? What did that have to do with me?

I obviously…wasn't.

No. I wasn't going to think about that.

"That asshole," Tidus chuckled. "He seriously lied to all you guys about being 'experienced'?"

"Wow." Rikku leaned back in her seat. "That actually explains _a lot_."

"Like how he always stopped before we got past third base," some other girl on the cheer team—Sice, I think—muttered.

Her boyfriend sighed in relief. "Thank _god_. Honestly, from the way everyone talked about it, I didn't think I'd ever be able to match up to him."

"He is seriously one lameass motherfu—"

Tidus was interrupted when Riku joined us at the table with two trays of coffee. He was still grinning, and I watched as everyone put on fake smiles as he sat down.

Despite everything I'd just heard about him…I felt sorry for him.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

As we left the coffee shop, everyone paired up—even Tidus and Yuna. They had been talking in hushed conversation ever since Riku had come back to the table. Tidus and Riku were apparently mad at each other for some reason, ever since that argument they'd had in the bus park outside school when Tidus pushed Riku and glared at him…

Yeah, so I'd sort of eavesdropped on their argument. Though it was pretty much a coincidence that I was getting late for my bus and was there just late enough to see the argument happening.

Anyway. So everyone was paired up, leaving Riku and I alone. I noticed there was this huge sweat patch on his chest. He was sweating like hell, and I followed his hand as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He even managed to make sweat look sexy.

I had this weird urge to jump in a pool with him.

I knew I did not at all look sexy; I was sweating even more now, and I was pretty sure the sweat patches were gonna be visible on white cotton. I hoped I wasn't sweating from my butt…because that would have been embarrassing.

Riku sighed. "Um…maybe getting coffee wasn't such a good idea."

I snorted. It was like he'd read my mind. "Gotta agree with you there."

He shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. He was wearing Bermuda shorts, and I noticed his legs were slightly hairy. I wondered when the last time he shaved was.

I then wondered why I cared and why I was ogling his legs in the first place.

"You up for a drink?"

I cleared my throat, which was dry. The coffee—which I'd hardly touched—did almost nothing to help my dehydrated body. "Um…how 'bout some ice cream?"

"Even better," he agreed. "There's an ice cream shop down the road…"

I nodded, and we started heading to the ice cream shop. We didn't talk much, though I wasn't sure if it was because of the heat or because we didn't have anything to talk about. Sora was usually there to fill in the blanks, to start a conversation.

Riku seemed deep in thought. I felt weirdly guilty, even though I hadn't even taken part in the conversation in Starbucks. Riku deserved better friends…friends like Sora. And, possibly, me. I mean, I wouldn't judge him over his mistakes, like they all did. I would try my best to be a _proper _friend, to lift him up when he was down, help him up from the ground.

I…wanted to be that friend. I wanted him to look at me with those beautiful cyan-aquamarine eyes of his and—

"So…how'd you like my present?" Riku asked. We'd already started our ice creams. I'd been so lost in thought I'd lost track of time.

I realized I hadn't worn the necklace, which was pretty dumb. Riku would probably have been wondering why. "U-Um…yeah…thanks."

"Welcome," he deadpanned. He didn't seem that thrilled. I felt pretty stupid.

We continued our aimless walk. "So, what you doing this evening?"

I shrugged. "Nothing really. Pretty pooped after all that cheering." I decided to compliment him. "You were awesome today, by the way."

"Thanks," he replied. "And that was some badass cheerleading."

I remembered how I'd basically showed off my butt to everyone in the stadium. I could only imagine how awkward it would be when Mum and Dad saw the yearbook. "Hehe well…Fang's idea." I paused, and decided to continue the conversation. It was weird how little we had to talk about. "What about you?"

"Huh?" I mumbled dumbly.

"Any plans? For…this evening…?" I asked. I probably looked pretty strange licking rabidly at my ice cream bar, but it was scorching hot and I didn't want to have to go through the embarrassing ordeal of preventing melting ice cream from splattering all over my white shirt.

Riku managed to lick at his ice cream without looking like a total spaz. "Um…not really…"

"Hmm."

We licked absently on our ice cream bars, and I was just finishing my ice cream bar when I had an idea. "Hey, since you're free for now and I'm free for now…maybe we could, I dunno…hang out?"

He licked the last of his ice cream from his ice cream stick and gave me a weird look. "Isn't that what we're doing now?"

I shrugged. "Yeah…but I want to show you something."

I took him by the hand and started leading him to The Place.

The Place…well that's what I'd dubbed the amazing spot Namine had shown me. For some reason I wanted to share it with Riku…I wanted him to feel what I felt when I was up there.

It was weird. For some reason, I felt a strange kind of attachment to him that afternoon.

I tried to focus on not getting lost. I thought of following Namine's route, but it would have taken us way too close to the ghetto area, so we took the longer way. The sky had started darkening by the time we'd reached the forest.

I somehow managed to find the parting in the underbrush I'd been looking for. I turned to Riku, and, taking Namine's words, said: "Now—close your eyes."

"What?" He whispered, looking adorably confused. "Why?"

"Just close your eyes."

He did, and, after admiring him for a few seconds, I tugged him through, trying as best as I could not to walk him into a wall or anything.

And then she whispered: "Now…open your eyes."

He did.

And he had almost the exact same reaction as I did.

The panoramic view of the Islands was amazing—even though I'd then seen it more than three times, I still hadn't gotten enough of it. It seemed to get better each night.

I couldn't believe Roxas had found this place. Some kickass Valentine's Day present.

But that's another story.

"I…where _are _we?" Riku croaked, amazed. "How did you find this place?"

"Well…" I sighed. "My…sister…she showed it to me. She…" I swallowed. "…likes to draw."

He nodded. "Your sister, huh?" He sighed. "I…I could stay here forever and I wouldn't get sick of it…"

I giggled and sat down on the grass at the cliff edge, and Riku soon joined in. It was another one of those 'moments'—like the Fireworks, the Day on the Beach…

Riku laughed sardonically. "I can't believe…I've lived her practically all my life…and I've never even set one foot in the forest."

I was pretty shocked by that revelation. "You haven't?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Not even gone camping because—" He paused, frowning. "—I was sick."

I didn't believe his lie at all, but I decided to drop it, lying down on the grass and looking up at the sky. It was nearly sunset, and the sky was stained orangey-red. I realized a little later that I was still holding Riku's hand. He didn't do anything against it, and I felt myself blush. I hoped it was too dark for him to notice.

Suddenly Riku froze, squeezing my hand a little too tightly, and then he sat up abruptly. "Ohmygod. Please tell me there is nothing in my hair."

I sat up, and could barely stifle a gasp. "O…oh."

"What…what is it?" He gulped. I didn't answer, trying to think of a way to tell him without freaking him out. "What is it?"

The huge hairy spider on his head shifted slightly, and I bit down on my lip to prevent myself from screaming. "There's…there's a spider in your hair."

It took him about two seconds for him to digest this.

And then he screamed. He leapt to his feet and stumbled around crazily, desperately trying to whack away the spider, and if I wasn't so scared I might have laughed. The spider had long since been swatted away, but he was still screaming.

I watched in shock as his eyes rolled upward and he collapsed onto the grass.

"Riku!" I gasped, running to him. I checked his pulse—he was still breathing. I resisted the urge to facepalm—I mean, of _course _he wasn't _dead_—and concluded that he'd fainted.

I dragged him with much effort to a nearby tree, so he could stay in a sitting position. I had absolutely no idea what to do when someone fainted, so I just sat there, waiting for him to wake up.

It was amazing how adorable he looked when he was sleeping. He looked a lot younger, for one. And he looked a lot more at peace.

I started slipping all the leaves and grass from his silver hair to occupy myself. I felt myself smile—he was arachnophobic. How…weird.

I continued my wait, my mind drifting off to what Penelo had said that afternoon. She was crushing on Sora. I had a feeling she'd made in pretty obvious. How had I not noticed? He did kiss her at the Winter Bash after all…

Why was I still thinking about that? And why did thinking about that make me feel irritated?

I didn't have that much time to think about this because Riku woke up, coughing. "Wh…what happened?" He pushed himself up on his arms.

"Riku!" I gasped. "You're…awake."

His eyes narrowed in confusion. I realized I liked a lot better when his eyes were open. "Huh?"

For some reason it was suddenly hard for me to hold back a laugh. The hilariousness of the situation finally took its toll on me. "A spider crawled into your hair and you freaked out and fainted."

"…Oh."

It was silent for a while.

And then I couldn't take it anymore.

I burst into laughter, laughing so hard my sides started to ache. I knew I looked retarded when I laughed, but I couldn't help myself.

I realized pretty quickly that Riku was laughing too—at himself. His deep laughter mixed with my horribly high-pitched one, and I had a feeling that if anyone passed us by at that moment they'd probably think we'd escaped from a mental ward. Well, me, at least.

Whatever—I didn't really care. For some reason the laughter managed to ease the tension in the air—no, it somehow made it disappear completely. The ease I usually felt whenever I talked with Sora reappeared, and I found myself feeling relaxed…

I realized how much I liked Riku. I wasn't sure if it was _love _yet…but I knew it wasn't just a passing crush.

* * *

**Yeah…so not my best work.**

**But…IS THIS A HELL OF A FAST UPDATE OR WHAT? I can't believe how easy it was to write this…**

**Have three free periods today…so I can either decide to be late for French or to post this now.**

…**I have decided to post this **_**during **_**French. Whatever—I know the stupid language enough anyway.**

* * *

**Sneek Peek: **

"_Bon appétit."_

"_Your husband must be the luckiest man on earth."_

"…_one hell of a good kisser!" _

""_You're pulling the 'we're best friends' card on me?"_

""_Aw…you're blushing!"_

"…_will you be my girlfriend?"_

* * *

**Yeah…so stuff go DOWN in the next chappie. Though, if you've read Addicted already, you'll know. Hurrdurr. **

**R&R! I seriously love you guys…well, I love everyone apart from the Devil, but you know what I mean. Lol. Feel free to point out any mistakes you see. I wrote part of this when I was half-asleep. **

**Apologize and Addicted should be up soon…depending on how fast I update. I'm starting to have a lot of free time lately, so I suppose they'll be fast updates. Suppose. Can't promise anything.**

**So I didn't go to the T-Swift concert…but life goes on, right? Even if I didn't go, I'll try and update the other two this week! Stay tuned! **

**P.S: GOD THIS SITE IS REALLY, REALLY GETTING ON MY NERVES. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY TIMES I TRIED TO POST THIS! NDFFHUSBIFDBDASUGNUFG! **


	22. I'm Only Me When I'm With You

**A/N: What the hell is wrong with me? Wasn't I the one who promised three chappies last week? And all you guys got was ONE! Gosh…I suck. **

**Haha, finally watched Napoleon Dynamite. Yaaah baby. Honestly not as good as it's put out to be, but a fairly satisfying movie all the same. :P Oh, and you may notice I switch some of the wordings of the sneek peeks stated in previous chappies…but that's just me trying to be creative. And failing. But whatever. **

**Well…replies?**

**Superpeanutbutter: Haha yeah… XD And I try…I pretty much failed last time I did a fic so…yeah. XD I'M GLAD YOU WERE BORN TOO! Cause then I'd be a few reviews short… xD Lol…thanks btw… XD **

**About this chappie: Fluff and stuff. Yahoozeeee. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything. At all. Xcept the storyline of course. Hehe. Totally MINE. 'It Girl' belongs to Jason Derulo. Or his producers. Or whatever. :P **

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I get Sora a Valentine's gift._

"TICKETS TO SEE TANGLED! IN IMAX 3D!"

_Sora and I have a WTF moment. I think._

"Do you think it's possible for a girl and a guy to just be friends and not…fall in love with each other?"

_Penelo can rap. _

"I…I've always kinda liked rapping…"

_AND I find out she has a crush on Sora._

"Who's the special person you thought about, huh?"

"It's Sora."

_And I find out that Riku is a virgin! YAY!—I mean…um._

"That asshole," Tidus chuckled. "He seriously lied to all you guys about being 'experienced'?"

_And I think Riku and I have a moment as well. _

_Whatever. To put it simply, it's starting to get pretty clear that what I feel for Riku isn't just a passing crush. _

_I think._

* * *

**Chapter 22: I'm Only Me When I'm With You**

I let Riku know in Math about the dinner date—this was the only class we sat next to each other in, after all—which I'd arranged to be that Friday. Riku said he'd be sure to be there, which was a relief. I'd been afraid he'd suddenly turn into an asshole and decide not to come, but…well. He didn't.

He'd said he had some stuff to do right after school though, so I offered to pick him up at the closest bus stop so we could all walk home together. Sora and Riku were okay with this idea, so it was arranged.

And, surprisingly, Roxas and Namine were okay with it too. Well, Roxas was. It took quite a lot of convincing on Namine's part—she was probably thinking about the kids down at the Children's Shelter or something—but she eventually agreed.

It was going to be perfect. We'd walk down to a nearby restaurant for lunch—because we'd all skipped lunch, per my command—and then play around in the park a bit before heading home, picking Riku up on the way. Sora wouldn't stop grumbling about how hungry he was, how cruel I was for forcing him not to eat, and how much he craved a burger.

Well at least the talking made our spying less obvious. Okay, so yeah—the reason I'd invited Namine and Roxas was partially because I wanted to see if they were dating or not, but they didn't have to know that…

It pissed me off a bit that they weren't acting that intimate at all, just walking side by side and whispering in low voices. Sora suggested we ask them outright, but…you know. Too unromantic.

After having to endure a bus ride of Sora complaining about his 'aching stomach', we arrived at the 'Ile de Destin'. Yes, I'd actually had to search for a French restaurant near us on the internet. There was almost no one who spoke French on the island, apparently, and I wondered why they offered the language to us in school if we weren't ever going to need it.

Whatever.

I wanted to show off my French speaking skills—I'd been taking French as one of my languages in school—and decided to greet all the staff in French. They all immediately took a liking to me because of this; I don't think they got French-speaking customers that often.

"I wonder if there's anything good here…" Sora muttered as we looked over the menu not too soon later.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm taking foie gras," I announced. No, I didn't know what foie gras was, but all I knew was it was French.

Sora looked at me like I was crazy. "Kairi? You do know that's duck's liver you're ordering, right?"

No, I didn't know that. "But that doesn't mean it's disgusting. It's French cuisine."

"Your point being?"

I whacked him on the back of his head with my menu, getting a satisfying 'ow' sound from him. Namine apparently thought this was funny, because she started laughing. Sora grinned at her, as if I hadn't just whacked him across the head.

"You never want to try anything new," I huffed. "It's always the same old for you. Don't you have any interest in the unfamiliar?"

"The unfamiliar?" He raised an eyebrow. "You totally stole that line from a book."

"Yeah, well…" Okay, so yeah, I'd stolen that from a book. I just hadn't expected Sora to know that. "Just hurry up an order."

"Fine." I watched as Sora scanned the menu, chose something, and placed it back on the table. "I'm taking a cheeseburger."

"A _cheeseburger_?" I shrieked. "You can't come to a French restaurant and order a freaking _cheeseburger_!"

He shrugged indifferently. "Watch me."

It was at times like these that Sora really irritated me. "What about you guys?"

"Mm…" Namine scanned the menu. "I'm taking the seafood gumbo."

"I'm taking the same as Nam," Roxas added brightly, which was weird because almost everything Roxas did was usually dark.

"Aw, c'mon, not you too!" I whined, but Namine just shrugged apologetically, shaking her head.

"Why are we at a French restaurant anyway?" Roxas muttered, leaning on the table. "Couldn't we have eaten at the Paopu Palace or something?"

_Ugh._ "Well, I didn't you guys would be such…such…" I racked my brain for an appropriate word, and came up with nothing. "W-Well…you know what I mean!"

Roxas smirked, leaning on the palm of his hand. "Well, I don't know about you, but I like to know what I'm eating before I eat it."

"Isn't this supposed to be a French restaurant?" I asked to no one in particular. "What kind of French restaurant sells non-French food? A cheeseburger! Really…"

All in all, the meal was pretty crap. First of all, the foie gras tasted _horrible_—I wasn't a big fan of liver—and, second of all, Sora and the rest wouldn't quit flaunting their 'normal' meals in my face. My stomach growled and I ended up begging Sora for some of his fries, and he agreed to give them to me…only if I took back what I said about the unfamiliar and whatever.

Namine, amazingly, was a lot more smiley during the meal, even speaking once or twice. Sora and I figured it was because of one person—Roxas. For some reason, she was a lot more relaxed whenever he was around.

We managed to pick up a lot more clues that they liked each other—like the way Roxas always looked at Namine's lips when she was talking (which I found a bit disturbing but whatever), how Namine smiled at everything he said, how the space between them was almost nil.

I decided not to mention that Namine already had a boyfriend.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" The pretty waitress said when she came up to us with the bill. "A double date!"

"He's not—"

"She's not—"

"We're—"

"—just friends."

The waitress blinked in confusion, and then a smile spread on her face. "I see."

I felt my face warm up. What the hell was that?

And then she smiled, giving us our bill. "Ah. Right. Well…_à la prochaine, les amoureux_!"

Which showed she didn't believe a word we'd just said.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

After Roxas and Sora paid, we headed down to the park. Thankfully, it was warm outside—Sora said that, on the island, it was normal that in February it wasn't cold or snowing. There was a soft breeze though, so it wasn't _too _hot.

The sun shone softly over the park. There weren't many people there, and we managed to find a nice spot under a tree. I had a feeling it was the same tree Roxas and Namine had been sitting next to the first time we spied on them.

After a while of random banter and cloud-spotting, I came up with an idea.

"Roxas…" I grinned at him, trying not to flinch when his eyes met mine. They didn't hold the same warmth as they did when he was looking at Namine, but at least he wasn't glaring. "…why don't you sing a song for us?"

And then came the frown. "I don't…"

"Aw, c'mon, Roxas!" Sora chirped, apparently liking the idea. "You've got a good voice! ~And you've got a guitar!"

Namine looked like she liked that idea too, and she wasn't very good at hiding it.

Roxas' cheeks were speckled red. "It's embarrassing. We're in the middle of the park."

"So?" Sora persisted. "C'mon—we'll start off for you."

Sora's grin widened, and then he began to sing.

"_Do you hear me,_

_I'm talking to you_

_Across the water across the deep blue ocean_

_Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying_…"

My eyes widened when I recognized the song, and I felt myself smile as I continued.

"_Boy I hear you in my dreams_

_I feel your whisper across the sea,_

_I keep you with me in my heart_

_You make it easier when life gets hard…_"

"_I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend_

_Lucky to have been where I have been_

_Lucky to be coming home again_

_Lucky we're in love every way_

_Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed_

_Lucky to be coming home someday_…"

Roxas started strumming his guitar on cue, sharing a look with Namine that I couldn't quite read before picking up from where we'd left.

"_And so I'm sailing through the sea_

_To an island where we'll meet_

_You'll hear the music fill the air_

_I'll put a flower in your hair…_"

And then Namine began to sing, which was pretty…unexpected.

"_Though the breezes through trees_

_Move so pretty you're all I see_

_As the world keeps spinning round_

_You hold me right here right now_…"

I was so happy to hear he singing a song that _wasn't _depressing that I got to my feet and started spinning her around, singing all the way.

We were soon out of breath and mixing up the lyrics, and then we burst into laughter, falling into a heap in the grass. It was just like old times, sort of, except Namine wasn't in her baby blue sundress and she wasn't ten years old anymore.

Eventually our giggling died down, and I immediately started talking again to prevent an awkward silence. "Nami, remember that game we always used to play?"

"You mean…" Namine squinted her eyes as she thought. "The rolling down the hill game?"

I laughed. "Yup! Wanna play?"

Namine raised an eyebrow. "There's no hills here…"

I shrugged. "So? We can just roll in the grass!"

Namine stared at me for a while, and then she shook her head. "You're so weird."

But she agreed, anyway, and we proceeded to roll around in the grass giggling like babies, and I knew that the grass in my hair would take _ages _to pull out.

But, you know what?

I didn't care.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We eventually had to head home, stopping at the bus stop to pick Riku up.

He was wearing dark designer jeans and a tight-fitting t-shirt. I had a feeling he knew he looked good in it.

He grinned when he saw us, and even said hi to Roxas and Namine, though they decided to be antisocial and didn't say anything back. Riku glanced at me for an answer, and I just shrugged in response.

"Uh…" He cleared his throat, giving Roxas and Namine curious looks. I remembered he didn't know Namine was my sister. Oops. "So where's your house?"

"Just down the road," Sora replied.

Riku frowned. "How come this place seems familiar?" Then he stopped. "No way."

"What?"

"You guys live on the same street?" Riku gasped, surprised.

"Right next to each other, actually," I explained with a shrug. "C'mon; we'd better hurry up if we don't wanna be late."

We had just gotten to the front door when Riku spoke up again: "Oh, you're wearing the necklace I got you."

I felt myself blush. Of course I was wearing the necklace. My neck felt bare without it; I'd gotten so used to it. "Y-Yeah…thanks, by the way."

His grinned—widely. "No problem."

* * *

"Mom! We're back!"

Mum, Dad and Sora's Mum were in the living room when we got in. I didn't see Sora's Mum that much, so whenever I saw her I was taken aback by how young she looked. I doubted she'd gotten any facelifts like my Mum, because she looked totally natural while using the least amount of make-up possible. She looked like she was trying hard not to show how tired she was.

I immediately started to fear the worst when Mum got up to see us. "Sora!" Her eyes flitted towards Riku, and she gave me a knowing look. "And you must be Riku. Kairi's—" I gave her a glare that clearly said 'say any more and I'll kill you', and, thankfully, she got the message. She shook her head and turned to Roxas and Namine. "You guys had fun?"

They nodded in unison, and then Roxas spoke up, tapping absently on his guitar. "Um…Mom…I'm just gonna go drop off my guitar upstairs, alright?"

"Of course," Aerith—Sora's Mom—said. Roxas took Namine by the hand and led her upstairs.

"Aren't you worried they'll, you know…" Dad grumbled. "Get 'frisky'?"

I groaned in embarrassment, hiding my blushing face by leaning on Sora's chest. "Kill me now."

I heard him laugh, and resisted the urge to punch him in the stomach.

"Oh no, Roxas knows when to behave," Aerith tittered. "He's almost seventeen."

"Well, our Namine is only fifteen," Dad muttered. Dad was the kind of guy who thought every guy was out to get some. It took Mum and me a while to explain my relationship with Sora. "And Roxas is a guy. With raging hormones. And thousands of sperm."

"_Dad_!" I moaned. I had a feeling my face matched my hair. Riku and Sora weren't helping; they were laughing like he'd just said something funny.

Sora suggested we go watch some movies, and I was more than happy to oblige. Riku'd brought a few movies like I'd said he should, and I had as well. Sora didn't bring up any of his Disney movies—that would have been pretty embarrassing—and we eventually decided on Inception and 500 Days of Summer.

We finished Inception—which I loved, mostly because Leonardo DiCaprio was in it, and, you know, Leo DiCaprio is my best male actor ever—and had just got started on 500 Days of Summer when we were called down for dinner.

She smiled at us as we sat down at the table, seeming happy with herself. She waited for everyone to sit down before she started serving everyone.

"Really, Aerith?" Mum chuckled. "You don't have to go to the trouble of serving us."

Sora's Mum did anyway, as if she'd been doing it all her life. The food looked pretty yummy, honestly. Sora's stomach rumbled, and I stared at him in disbelief.

"How can you be _hungry_?" I asked incredulously. "You just ate a huge cheeseburger and _loads_ of fries!" Okay, so I'd stolen most of his fries, but come on. _I _wasn't even hungry.

Sora shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. My stomach's a bottomless pit."

"I don't get it," I huffed, jealous. "How come guys can eat so much and not add an ounce?" If I ate one tub of ice cream, I'd be seeing it in my butt by the end of the month. Sometimes I wished I was a guy.

The food arrived, and I realized that I actually was pretty hungry.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as Dad started telling the story of one of plane-crashes. Somehow Dad survived all of them, and he didn't seem to ever get tired of telling how. Mum and I, though, eventually got tired of hearing it.

But Sora and the rest seemed pretty interested. Well, at least Sora did.

"What happened next?" Sora asked, bouncing in his seat like a six-year-old, not at all like a sixteen year old. "Did the plane explode? Did just crash-land into a mountain? Did you _die_?"

I giggled at the idiotic question, and Riku rolled his eyes. "Of course he didn't, stupid. If he did die, then you wouldn't be talking to him right now."

Sora gave Riku a challenging grin. "How are you sure he isn't a ghost?"

Riku and I gave him a weird look. It was at times like this that I wondered what went on in his head.

"Anyway," Dad continued. "What happened next was a miracle, I tell ya." He turned to Sora. "Yes, Sora, I _did _crash-land."

He gasped. "No fucking way."

"But not in a mountain," Dad clarified. "Just so happened that I crash-landed into someone's backyard. Somehow, I managed to get out with minimal damage."

"How did you get back home?" I probed.

He went on to tell the story of how a farmer had found him and called the headquarters blah blah blah.

"Wow…" Sora whispered in awe when Dad finished. "So I suppose while all this was going on, you were at home watching _Vampire Diaries _or something."

I shook my head dismissively. I didn't even watch _Vampire Diaries_. I think I'd been watching _Slumdog Millionaire_. "Nah. We didn't know he'd been in a crash until he got back, though. Shocked us a little."

"Old git refuses to stop flying," Ariel added, shaking her head disapprovingly at him, but it was impossible to miss the tiny smile she was trying to hide. "They offered you a job on ground."

"What—you think just one stinking mistake is gonna keep me outta the sky? You've gotta be fucking outta your mind."

Sora still wasn't done, though. "So, you still fly then? Do you have your own ship? What's its name?"

Dad laughed, ruffling Sora's hair. I had a feeling he'd had started to like him. "You sure don't like to mind yer own business, do ya, kid?"

Sora shook his head, that dopey grin still on his face. "I find that everyone's business is my business."

Dad slapped him on the back. "I love this kid."

The meal continued, Dad complimenting Sora's Mum on her cooking every once in a while.

And then he said: "Your husband must be the luckiest man on earth."

Since I was sitting next to Sora, I was the first to see him flinch. Mum was second, and she whispered something to Dad. I remembered he hadn't been informed on their current family situation.

Roxas and Sora shared a look, and so did Namine and I. Namine looked pretty confused, but not as confused as Dad. It felt pretty awkward for a while.

But it turned out the worrying was pointless. Sora's Mum brushed off the comment nonchalantly. "Mm. I've gotten that before."

Everyone laughed at that, and the uneasy feeling disappeared for the rest of the meal.

And so did Riku's voice.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was Monday morning. I was in a pretty good mood, and, for once, it didn't bother me when I realized Lenne and Yuna were being flocked by the cheerleaders. Now since I was a cheerleader, this shouldn't have bothered me anyway, but, you know. Don't get me wrong—they were nice to me and all—but fashion, sex and What She/He Said/Did At His/Her Party dominated many of the conversations, and usually bored me to death.

But everything that had happened that weekend had put me in a good mood. Namine had stayed the whole weekend, and even contributed to conversation once or twice. We tried to stay up late watching _Twilight_—and, no, I'm not a fan of vampires, but Mom had bought it and I would have felt mean if I never opened it—but we both fell asleep barely fifteen minutes in. We planted flowers in the garden with Mom, and even watched her paint. And then on Sunday evening we had a nice potato pie for dinner, which, you know, was pretty awesome because I love potatoes.

Anyway, because of all this, I managed to walk up the group with a smile on my face. All of them chorused my name and I waved at them, and then they got back to their conversation.

"Okay, so he is _so _not my type and I'd rather die than go out with him," Garnet began. "But _damn_ that guy can kiss!"

The rest of them whooped in assent, and I rolled my eyes.

"I know, right?" Vanille giggled. I was about to tune out of the conversation when she said: "Who knew Sora could kiss like that?"

My heart skipped a beat. "What?"

Rikku giggled. "What—you didn't hear?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't at Penelo's party, huh?" Vanille smirked.

No, I wasn't. I wasn't a big fan of house parties, especially since the time I'd gone to Shuyin's and gotten drunk. And I'd been to enough booze parties in the past months, and, although Penelo was my friend and all, I just couldn't be bothered.

I was starting to regret not going though.

Ashe's bubblegum bubble popped. "Good thing you couldn't make it—woulda been pretty awkward kissing your best friend, huh?"

My cheeks burned, but I wasn't sure if it was out of anger or embarrassment. "What?"

"I mean, he kissed, like, every girl at the party," Vanille continued. "It was so weird…a lot of us were, like, crazy drunk—"

"Excuse me," I snapped, feeling furious at them all for some reason, before turning on my heels and heading for Sora's locker.

What the hell was he thinking, kissing girls like that? Wasn't he the one who was always talking about how much he thought his first kiss should count? Wasn't he the one who was always going on about how bitchy the popular girls are? Why would he suddenly kiss every single one of them? And what the hell was he doing at a house party anyway?

I spotted him at his locker, unloading his books, and marched up to him before I could figure out what I was doing.

He smiled when he saw me—that stupid cheesy grin that made me almost forget what I was about to say. "Oh, hey, Kai!"

Keyword: _almost_. "Hey, _buddy_."

He chuckled. "Well, somebody's got their undies in a bunch."

"Well at least I know when to keep them on!"

I hadn't really meant to blurt it outright like that, but I was pretty pissed off, and I didn't really know why. He finally realized this, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Wait…what?"

"You _know _what!" I snapped.

He blinked at me, looking genuinely confused. "Kairi…I am sorry but I _honestly _have no idea what you're talking about."

I was still pissed at him, and, convinced he was faking, decided to cut to the chase. it"Just how many girls have you kissed, Sora?"

His face colored. "Uh…"

"Garnet? Really?" I hissed.

He sighed, finally getting what I was talking about. "They told you that, huh?"

"Yes. They did." I frowned. What, he didn't want me to know? That kind of hurt. How come I wasn't in on this?"

He nervously raked his hands through his hair, adjusting his hold on his bookbag. "Well…it happened just yesterday—there was no way I coulda told you—"

"Yeah, like you would've told me if I didn't ask you," I bit back. Okay, so I was being a bit of a bitch, but…

Sora seemed to be getting irritated. "Yes, I would."

"Like you told me about you kissed Penelo at the Christmas Bash?"

Okay, so I didn't mean to blurt this out, and it was pretty dumb of me because it probably made me sound like a stalker. He seemed pretty surprised that I knew about that, and that just made me angrier.

"I didn't think you—"

"I thought we were best friends!" I interjected. "Best friends are meant to—"

"Seriously, Kairi?" He snapped, frustrated. "You're pulling the 'we're best friends' card on me?" I didn't get what he meant by that. "Look, why do you care so much who I kiss in the first place?"

That was all it took to shut me up. Sora was right—_why _did I care about who he kissed? So what if he kissed a bunch of girls? That was his problem, not mine, right?

Why the hell was I acting like a jealous ex-girlfriend or something?

"I…" I knew I had to give him an answer, because I'd been a bit bitchy about the whole thing. "I just don't want you to get hurt. The cheerleaders…they only want one thing, and…"

I knew I wasn't being fair on them—I mean, sure, they were sluts and all, but I didn't have the right to say anything about them—but it was all I could come up with. Thankfully Sora fell for it because I didn't really have anything else.

"It's okay," he said, and I realized he was smiling. "I'll be fine. They won't get anything out of me." He lowered his voice, grinning. "And, plus, you'll scare them off if they even try to get near me, won't you?"

I giggled. "If you're lucky."

He grinned, and I stared at him. How was it that he was able to forgive me so quickly, especially considering my lame excuse? If it was anybody else…

I found myself pulling him into a hug, wrapping my arms around his back. I realized his peppermint smell was tinted with the faint smell of alcohol and secondhand smoke. Yup, he'd been to a party alright. And it had most likely been his first.

I mean, any partygoer would have known to have a shower after a night out. Heck—anyone would know that. He'd probably not had enough time to have a shower, or something.

I noticed how hard his stomach had gotten ever since the first time I'd first hugged him, and I smirked in amusement. "Wow. It's getting harder and harder for me to do that every passing day. Have you been working out?"

He shook his head vehemently, but I was his best friend. Of course I knew when he was lying.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The student body was in a buzz. For some reason people were coming from here and there offering to do our homework, to wash our car or whatever. It was like, for some reason, everyone was trying to get on our good side.

Riku's eighteenth birthday was coming up.

I was pretty surprised to find out that Riku invited Sora. I knew he didn't hate him anymore, but still…I didn't think he liked Sora enough to invite him to his birthday.

But oh well. I didn't know Riku that much.

Coming to think of it, no one really knew him that well.

I met him at his locker that morning; he was talking to Vaan. "…I can't help feeling this is all some big prank, and he's gonna come out of nowhere with a bucket of live spiders and—"

"That's just crazy," I interjected, rolling my eyes at his paranoia. "Riku isn't _that _immature."

"Yeah, and _you _know."

"As a matter of fact, Sora, I do," I quipped. "Riku actually _wanted _to invite you. You're his friend too, you know, and—" I stopped myself, just realizing Vaan was there. "Oh, hey Vaan!"

Vaan made some kind of growling sound and walked away in a sulk. I looked after him guiltily. This wasn't the first time this had happened. "I just completely got in the way there, didn't I?"

Sora shrugged. "Pretty much."

"I hate it when that happens."

Sora just laughed. "So…when's the next glee club competition?"

"Well…it's gonna be on the first of April," I explained. And, even though I was pretty nervous about the whole thing, I was pretty annoyed that it was so far away. I kind of wanted to get it over and done with, and since the day had kept changing, by the time they got a venue the earliest they could schedule it for was the first of April. And, if we ever got past the Nationals, we'd have only a month left to come up with another setlist and master it.

I told Sora all this and more, until I realized he wasn't really listening.

He was looking off in the distance…at Penelo. Penelo, who was strutting along with the cheerleaders in her cheer outfit. Which, I hated to admit, didn't look bad on her.

For some reason, what Penelo had said at the Regionals game wouldn't stop replaying in my head.

Penelo had a crush on Sora. Which didn't sit that well with me.

"Sora?" I asked. "You okay?"

He nodded briskly. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine."

Which was a total lie. I knew him too well to believe him. "It's Penelo, isn't it? You're still upset about her leaving you guys for…well, whatever she was looking for."

He looked away, and I felt that stupid jealous feeling creeping up again. "A little."

I pushed the feeling to the back of my mind, determined to get the sad look I hated so much to disappear. "She's still there, you know. She's not completely vanished off the face of the earth. Sure, the down-to-earth _normal _Penelo is still living deep down in her heart."

I had a feeling I was babbling, and Sora seemed to think the same. "Thank you, Kairi, for those three inspiring sentences. I'm touched."

I elbowed him in the stomach at the evident sarcasm in his voice. "I'm serious."

"I know you are," he laughed, shaking his head. "I just hope you're right."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was at dinner that Wednesday. We were having mac and cheese, and, for once, Namine was actually eating it. Dad was checking out what was on the news—he was an aviator, so this was kind of required—and I'd just told Mum about Riku's birthday party. She was a little reluctant to let me go, but I managed to persuade her when I mentioned that Sora was going. Mum really, really liked Sora. Or maybe she just really liked his Mum. Or maybe both.

Anyway, she was reminding me of my curfew and all that when Namine's cell phone buzzed, and she stopped eating to check her text message. She visibly blanched before tucking her phone back in her pocket and standing up.

This caught Mum's attention. "Where are you going?"

"I…I need to go," Namine replied, not really answering anything. She started to zip up her hoodie when Mum stood up as well.

"I asked _where _you were going."

Namine hesitated, making sure Dad was out of hearing range before continuing. "To…to my boyfriend's house. I've…I thought you knew I've been staying there—"

"Just when are we going to see this boyfriend of yours, young lady?" Mum interjected, making sure to keep her voice down. Dad didn't know about Namine living with Seifer; I managed to make Mum keep it a secret from him. She agreed—only because she knew how Dad would probably have a heart attack if he found out.

I'd always thought it wasn't possible, but Namine's face got even paler. "I…he's busy most of the time and—"

"What? Who's busy?" Dad came back from checking the news. My heart skipped a beat, and I had a feeling Mum's did the same. He frowned at our expressions. "What?"

"I…" Namine's face had gotten _even _paler. "I've gotta go…"

"You're leaving already?" Dad asked. Mum had somehow managed to make him believe that Namine was living with her 'best friend' for all this time, and Dad still wasn't that comfortable with it.

Namine nodded stiffly. "Nn."

Dad frowned. "Right." He yawned. "Say hi to her for me, 'eh?"

Namine nodded and turned on her heels, running out the door and slamming the door behind her. Mum and I relaxed, but thankfully Dad didn't notice and went back to eating his mac and cheese.

Mum's eyes said it all though—she wasn't done with Namine just yet. She was going to make her show her who Seifer was eventually.

To be honest, I was kind of curious to meet him as well.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Lenne, Yuna and the rest all arranged some kind of sick shopping spree that Friday, but I politely declined, telling them that I had to babysit.

This, of course, was a lie.

The real reason was that I was kind of planning to go shopping with Sora. And I didn't really want to get the kind of things they were evidently out to get i.e. sexy underwear, high-heeled boots, condoms and contraception pills.

I would have gone with Namine, but she wasn't really the shopping type and Saturdays and Sundays were the only days she spent the whole day at our house. And she liked to spend this time sleeping.

Which is how I found myself calling Sora up that morning.

"Hey, Sora! You ready for the party tomorrow?"

It took a while for him to reply. "Yeah."

"Well, I'm not." I giggled nervously. "I mean, I still haven't picked out an outfit…"

"Oh."

His voice sounded tired. I wondered if he'd just woken up. "So I was thinking that maybe…you could come shopping with me?"

"…you want me to go shopping with you."

I didn't really like his tone. "I want you to go shopping with me."

He was quiet for quite a while. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." I muttered. "Yes I am."

He grumbled. "Honestly, Kairi, I don't—"

"_Please_?"

He sighed. "Okay."

"Yay!" I cheered, already getting up to go have a shower. "I'll drop by at eleven."

"Sure! See ya then."

I hung up and quickly got dressed, pulling on one of the outfits Lenne had picked out for me. It was a bit slutty for my taste, but I'd been putting off wearing it for weeks and I didn't want to have to lie to Lenne anymore. Okay, so the newsboy cap and the top weren't _that _bad—it was the hot pants that scared me. I had a feeling that if I bent down to pick something, my butt would be on full display, which was NOT something I wanted.

Whatever. Sora wasn't the perverted type.

And I knew that where I was going everyone would be dressed like me, so it wouldn't be a big deal.

I skipped over to Sora's and rang on the bell, and soon we were on our way to the shopping center.

Now, I wasn't a mall person, but I'd been there quite a lot with the rest of the girls, so I pretty much knew where everywhere was.

Including _Victoria's Secret_.

Okay, so I know you're all probably wondering _why_ I decided to go there, right? Well, I'd heard that they sold the best party dresses ever there, and, though I normally wouldn't have listened to counsel coming from one of the cheerleaders, I decided to check it out.

I was going to Riku's birthday party after all. And by the way people talked about it, it was apparently something pretty big. I didn't want to look odd amongst all the partygoers…

Okay, so, yeah, it partially had to do with the fact that it was _Riku's _birthday.

And maybe I _kinda _wanted to make him look at me.

Or something.

"I…I heard they sell the best dresses here," I explained to Sora as we entered the shop. His eyes widened as he took in his surroundings. "Hope you don't mind."

He shook his head, and we got shopping.

It turned out _Victoria's Secret _actually had a bunch of cool stuff. Well, not cool per se, but…underwear I wouldn't have minded wearing. I spent quite a while figuring out which one to pick—I wasn't sure if the munny Mum had given me would be enough for more—and eventually got stuck in a lacy corset and a bright green push-up bra, which I was sure matched a bunch of my tops.

"Sora?" I asked. "Which one d'you think I should take?"

"U-um, honestly, Kairi, can we just get your dress and leave?" He groaned.

I smirked, feeling weirdly flirty all of a sudden. "What? Does all this girl stuff make you _uncomfortable_?"

His face erupted in flames.

"Hmm?" And then I did something totally unlike me.

I leaned closer to him and waved the underwear in front of face.

His cheeks darkened even more. "What the hell?"

I laughed at his expression. "Aw…you're blushing!"

"I am _not_!" He insisted, pouting adorably. "I…I just—"

He groaned, covering his blushing face with his hands, as I tried to stop myself from giggling. I eventually managed to calm myself down. "Okay. I'll go try these on…but while I'm at it could you help pick up these for me?" I handed him the shopping list I'd made and grinned at him before heading off to the changing rooms.

I was met with a dozen curious stares from the girls in the line. Some of them looked like college students, some of them looked like high-schoolers, and one of them looked like a preteen. One of the older ones—a blonde wearing way too much mascara—gave me a once over before whispering something to her brown-haired friend.

I was all set on ignoring them when one of them came up to me, smiling slightly. "Hey…is that guy your boyfriend?"

I frowned, searching for 'the guy' she was talking about. "Who?"

"That guy…the cute spiky-haired one," she giggled.

My eyes widened when I realized who she was talking about. "Oh! Sora? N-No! We're just…best friends."

The girl nodded, giving me an apologetic smile. "Aw. That's a shame." And then, in a lower voice: "He's really cute."

And then she went back to her group of friends.

I swore I heard one of them cheer.

* * *

I'd just tried on the two bras—deciding to pick the green push-up bra because the lacy corset reminded me too much of the lacy purple ones I'd banished to the back of my wardrobe—when I saw the dress.

It was a leapord-print ruched mini, and, usually, I wouldn't have looked twice at it, because I didn't usually wear minis. But for some reason I found myself imagining how I looked in it…and if Riku would like it.

Which is how come I ended up trying the dress on and buying it.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Yuna, Lenne and Rikku came to pick me up that day, and, thankfully, Mum and Dad weren't in to see them in their…well, they weren't really wearing that much. I should have expected that, though.

I thankfully managed to get to the car without twisting my ankle—the shoes I'd bought to go with the dress were _ridiculously _high—and they all cheered when they saw what I was wearing.

"God, Kairi, how much was that dress!" Lenne exclaimed, clapping. "It looks _so _good on you!"

"Thanks," I replied sheepishly, scrambling into the back seat next to Rikku, who was texting. "So, how're stuff at college?"

Rikku gave me a confused look.

"Your boyfriend?"

Rikku stared at me for a while, and then she got it. "Oh! You mean with Machina?" She laughed. "Gosh, we broke up _ages _a go! He's old news now…"

I blushed in embarrassment. "Oh."

She laughed. "Yeah, he was getting too boring, you know? He listened to _everything _I said, like, whenever we had an argument he'd _always _apologize before it got serious."

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked.

Lenne giggled, and Rikku shook her head. "Kairi, Kairi, you're so naïve."

Yeah. I felt naïve alright.

"I like a guy who's, you know, not too harsh, but…you know. Not a pansy." Rikku looked back at her cell. "When a guy doesn't know how to be angry it's a total turn-off."

I barely resisted the urge to yell at her for how inconsiderate of the guy's feelings she was being. Barely.

"So…" Lenne asked. "How're you and _Sora_?"

I didn't like the way she said his name, but I decided to ignore it. "We're good."

"You don't like him, do you?" Yuna asked, her voice tinted with disgust.

"No…" I said slowly. "But so what if I did?"

Yuna shrugged, and Lenne and Rikku shared a look.

It was at times like these that I wondered why I called these people my friends.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Dance music blared. People were smoking and smooching in the hallways. Alcohol was à volonté.

It was a high school party alright.

What astounded me was how many people were there though. I didn't even recognize most of them. This was exactly why I didn't like holding parties; I'd invite one person, who'd invite another, who'd invite another…

And yeah. I had a feeling Riku didn't know most of the people either.

"C'mon, let's go dance!" Rikku cheered, tugging Yuna by the hand and pulling her into the crowd. Lenne did the same with me, and soon I found myself in the midst of dozens of sweaty teenagers, dancing to the blazing music.

The feeling that crept up whenever I was in a party-type scene was still there, but, for some reason, it wasn't as bad as the previous times. Maybe because I'd gotten so used to partying all the time.

I managed to find my way out and say hi to Sora, but before I could say anything else I got pulled back into the crowd again. It was pretty annoying. Well, when you're in a party you can't exactly help but dance. I would have loved to go and grab a seat somewhere—my feet were already starting to hurt—or get a drink, but I couldn't find my way out and was forced to, well, dance.

After what seemed like an hour of grinding my body against other peoples'—and that sounds a lot dirtier than it is—I managed to squeeze my way out of the crowd again.

I was on my way to go find Sora—because I had a feeling he didn't know that much about partying—when I bumped into Penelo.

"Oh, hi!" I had to scream over the Lady Gaga playing in the background.

"Hey!" She yelled. "Have you seen Sora?"

I shook my head. "Not yet." I shrugged. I could smell that she'd been drinking, and frowned. "Why?"

"Cause," she replied, hiccupping. "I gotta tell him something."

And then she disappeared into the crowd.

I had a really bad feeling about this, and decided I needed to find Sora before she did. Penelo liked Sora…was that what she was going to tell him?

And he apparently liked her back…I mean, he'd kissed her and he looked really disappointed when she stopped hanging out with him…

Whatever. All I knew is that I didn't want her to let him know. I didn't want Penelo and Sora to start dating, because…

Wait. Why…?

I didn't even have time to think about this, because suddenly the music stopped and everyone stopped dancing to look up at the stage.

Riku was on stage, looking pretty professional in his dark jeans and tight-fitting shirt, and I noticed his hair was in a ponytail, which I didn't usually find sexy…but you know. Riku was the kind of guy who could look sexy wearing a dress.

He grinned at everyone, bringing the microphone to his lips, and went on to thank everyone for coming and all that. I would have stayed to listen, but I was too busy trying to find Sora. If Penelo found him before I did—

"…could Kairi come up to the stage, please?"

I froze as everyone started murmuring, and I heard a few ask who Kairi was. My heart started thudding dangerously, and I tried to sneak away as inconspicuously as possible.

But, of course, somebody spotted me.

"She's there!"

And somehow I ended up getting pushed towards the stage in my five-inch heels and way-too-short dress.

I barely managed to stumble onto the stage, but, thankfully, I managed to keep my balance and _not _fall on my butt and embarrass myself in front of everyone.

I knew I was blushing. I seriously did _not _want to be in stage.

Especially not in this dress. I really regretted buying it now.

"Kairi…" He gave me that practiced smile of his as he whispered into the microphone, which I felt was pretty dumb to be honest: "…promise me you won't run off stage after this?"

I stared at him, completely and utterly lost.

And then he started to sing.

* * *

He sang.

A song.

For me.

* * *

"_Can't seem to stop you from...running, running_

_Through my, through my mind, mind_

_Just keep it coming, coming_

_Til I make you mine, mine…"_

_Oh. God. _

My whole body was paralyzed. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, hearing. What the hell was Riku doing, singing a song like that to me? In front of everyone?

I could barely stop my knees from shaking; I was so damn nervous. I wanted, more than anything, to run off stage and run all the way home and watch Namine paint, or something.

I tried not to focus too much on how his hair seemed to shimmer in the stage lights, or how his eyes sparkled whenever he looked my way—and, trust me, he did that _a lot_—and instead tried to focus on keeping myself up and not letting my heart break its way out of my chest.

I felt like I was on Glee, or something. Since when did guys climb on stages and sing songs to their girlfriends?

Heck—I wasn't even his girlfriend? What the hell was he—

And then I saw the look—the desire—in his eyes. And I got it.

_Oh. _

My blush got worse, and I began to count to hundred in my mind to prevent myself from passing out.

"_Let me play it loud,_

_Let me play it loud, like:_

_Oh oh-oh-oh-oh _

_Oh-oh-oh oh-oh…_"

The song finished, and for a second I thought the nightmare had ended.

But no—it was far from over.

Riku ignored the cheers from the crowd and walked up to me, his tall body looming over mine.

And then he took one of my hands.

And got down on one knee.

I was pretty sure I was going to faint right then and there, especially when he looked me in the eyes and asked:

"Kairi, will you be my girlfriend?"

* * *

**OMFG. OMFG OMFG. CHAPPIE IN A DAY! HOW AWESOME IZZAT! YAY ME! **

**Hope you all enjoyed that. Not every day you get three chappies in a week (yeah, I owe you guys for last week). **

**Not much to say…except that Kairi is the most complicated character I have ever written. Well, complicated female character. Riku's obviously the most complicated male. XD **

**The internet isn't connected write now, so it might be hours until I actually post this. **

**But whatever.**

**Sneek Peek, anyone?**

**No?**

**Nah, don't think so. This chappie doesn't deserve a sneek peek. Harhar. **

**R&R, peoples! **

**XXX See ya next time! **


	23. Kiss Kiss

**A/N: Hiya guys! Hope you liked the fast updates! Doncha wish I could be doing that all the time? XD I saw Kathryn Stockett, the author of 'the Help', at school this week. She's apparently very shy, like me. Which is awesome. Totally relate to her. I would go on and on about what she told us, but I'm sure most of you guys don't care. **

**Well, first of all guys, I think I should let you know that I got my first flame on the last chappie! How awesome is that? Hehe, no, honestly. Like me, he believed Kairi is a canon Sue. Oh, and that Kyumuke (which isn't a Japanese name by the way) is a stupid last name for Sora. Hm. Oh well. Just thought I'd let you know that, NO, this story is NOT perfect, like you all think it is. Hehe…so yeah. **

**Replies…?**

**M: Yeah, since you didn't login I had to reply to you through here. Um…where do I start? Thanks for giving your opinion! I haven't had any flames yet…so this is new! Hehe…yeah…I also believe Kairi is a canon Sue, but I've tried my best not to make her one. Obviously I'm failing. *teardrop* And, by the way, no one knows about her tragic past…so it's normal they wouldn't hate her. And…WHAT? You skimmed through this after the first chapter? Well…that sucks. Because the Sueage pretty much lessened after that…at least that's what I believed. Hehe…well…um…I'm not used to this, so I'll just say check out some of the fics on my profile page! There's a bunch of better fics up there. ^^ I know I hate it when people say 'DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ!', so I'm not gonna say that to you. Peace out!**

**Anyway, here we are guys. Next chappie of Angel. First flame—figured it would be on this fic. Cause I totally made Kairi a Sue, right? **

**Haha, now I'm starting to sound like I'm obsessing over being proven wrong…but I'm not, just so you know.**

**About this chappie? Expect some drama. Keyword: _Some_. It's not that much, really. **

**Disclaimer: DON'T OWWWWN. Yeah, so I stole the title from the Chris Brown song…but, honestly, it has nothing to do with the chappie. Lol. The songs referred to in the chappie are 'Til' the World Ends' by Britney Spears, 'Bottoms Up' by Trey Songz, 'Drop it Low' by Chris Brown and Ester Dean, and 'Never Grow Up' by Taylor Swift. **

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I find out that Sora's the type of guy who gets around. _

"Good thing you couldn't make it—woulda been pretty awkward kissing your best friend, huh?"

_Mum loses her patience with Namine. _

"Just when are we going to see this boyfriend of yours, young lady?"

_And Riku…well he…um…_

"Kairi, will you be my girlfriend?"

_Yeah. He…that._

* * *

**Chapter 23: Kiss Kiss**

At first, I felt nothing.

And then the confusion, embarrassment, and fear hit me. I was standing on stage in my way-too-short dress and way-too-high heels, Riku was _kneeling on the ground _in front of me, and everyone in the Emporium had their eyes on me, staring apprehensively at Riku and I.

My shoes squeaked, and I realized I was on the verge of fainting. I stared at him as his hold on my hand tightened. His aquamarine eyes bore into mine, pleadingly.

I couldn't believe it. Riku actually had the nerve to ask me out in front of a huge crowd.

How was I supposed to say no?

I knew I was blushing pretty hard, but I was too embarrassed to care. I struggled to hold Riku's gaze, but the emotion in his eyes was overwhelming, and I had to look away, giving him a small shake of the head.

I glared at my shoes for a bit, trying to untangle the mess that my mind was in. If I said no? I'd be free of my embarrassment, but hated by almost every girl in school for turning him down. Oh, and I'd probably have to kiss my social life goodbye. If I said yes? Well…

And then I remembered. Sora. How would he feel if I said yes?

I turned to the crowd, desperately searching for his face amongst it. I tried not to focus too much on the fact that all eyes were on me. I'd just started to feel frustrated when I saw him, standing near the back of the crowd, his eyes wide, as if he was trying to register what was happening.

For a moment, it was like it was just me and him in the huge dim-lit hall. Everyone else blurred in my vision as I concentrated on his face.

And then he flashed me a brilliant cheesy grins, giving me a thumbs-up, as if to say '_Sora approves_'. He was giving me the go ahead. He wanted me to say yes to becoming Riku's girlfriend.

And for a reason I wasn't quite sure of yet, I felt sort of…disappointed.

I shook the feeling off and turned to Riku, who was still kneeling on the ground. His eyes frantically searched my face, as if looking for an answer in my expression. I was confused as hell. Did he do this for any other girls apart from me? Was he serious about me?

Then I remembered the Winter Bash, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day. And I wondered how I hadn't seen it before.

Riku liked me.

As in _like-_liked me.

It took all my strength to stop myself from fainting once again.

"Riku…" I began, trying to keep my voice steady. His eyes widened, and he gave me his own tiny shake of the head, as if he was afraid of what I was going to say. Either Riku was pretty damn sincere, or he was just a _really _good actor.

Before I could continue, the crowd broke out into a rant, startling me even more. '_SAY YES! SAY YES!'_. It did nothing to subdue my embarrassment, and I was sure that blushing as much as I was wasn't healthy. "Riku I…"

Riku pulled himself to his feet, still holding my gaze. The crowd roared on. Questions raced through my mind at an astonishing speed, and I felt myself losing my balance. The words to Riku's song began to play in my head, and I remembered Riku's smile, Riku's laugh, my Valentine's bear, the way he'd looked at me that night at Shuyin's party, Sora's grinning face as he gave me a thumbs up, _SAY YES, SAY YES—_

I cracked.

"YES!"

My voice echoed across the hall. It just so happened that this was when they all decided to shut up. How convenient.

Riku's eyes widened as he slowly took this in.

I giggled, but for some reason it felt forced. "Of course I'll go out with you, Riku."

His face broke into an elated smile as everyone cheered. I smiled back, thinking of possibly descending the stage when he pulled me in.

And kissed me.

* * *

I felt nothing.

* * *

Okay, so I'd be lying if I told you Riku wasn't a good kisser. I mean, I hadn't had that many kissing experiences, but I was pretty sure Riku was movie star material. Which wasn't surprising, since he'd probably trained on countless girls before me.

I tried not to think about that as his tongue explored my mouth.

Riku was an exceptional kisser, no doubt about it.

But when I kissed him…it didn't feel as amazing as I thought it would have felt. It just felt like tongue and saliva and bubblegum.

No fireworks. No hormones going crazy. No currents running through my veins.

I was starting to wonder whether all those romance novel writers just made all that stuff up.

I kissed him back, of course, because I was his new girlfriend, and I had a feeling that was required. I had no idea what kind of kisser I was, but it seemed to satisfy Riku. He kissed me for at least one full minute as everyone cheered before breaking away and wishing everyone a fun evening.

Someone yelled that I should sing him a song, and it soon mixed in with the rest of the cheers. Riku laughed, shaking his head dismissively as he turned to me. "Kairi, you don't have to—"

"Sure, I'll sing."

I wasn't really sure why I agreed, but for some reason I grabbed the microphone from him with a crazy bout of confidence.

I sang the first song on my mind—Katy Perry's _Teenage Dream_—while my eyes searched the crowd for Sora. I wasn't sure why, but when I realized his back was turned and he was already leaving the Emporium with Penelo, I felt upset.

I tried not to show it, though. So what? I didn't care if Sora went off with Penelo. He deserved a girlfriend, after all.

Thankfully, the DJ began to play the real song just as I finished the first chorus, so I didn't have to focus on trying to make my voice sound enthusiastic any more. Riku kissed me again, the crowd cheered, and then he wished everyone a good night.

And then he pulled me onto the dance floor, where we basically spent the rest of the night, dancing and making out and grinding to fast-paced songs about 'dancing til the world ends', 'shaking in them jeans' and 'dropping it low'. You know. The usual. We shared one or two drinks, but Riku seemed to be one of those people who found it nearly impossible to get drunk. I had a feeling I'd drank a little too much. I didn't know what it was that changed, but suddenly the party atmosphere made me feel uncomfortable. The music seemed way too loud, the room felt way too stuffy, Riku's body seemed too close to mine…

I babbled something about needing to be back by midnight and how my shoes were killing me (which wasn't a complete lie), and, thankfully, he understood.

He offered to drive me home, which I accepted, because I had a feeling Yuna was too busy getting smashed. The drive home was…well. Riku went crazy, kissing me at practically every stoplight, intersection, stop sign. It was ridiculous, really. But it felt sort of nice, all the same. And arousing.

Ugh. How I hated that word.

Anyway, because of all the distractions, it ended up taking us twice as long as usual to get to my house, and when we did, Riku spent at least another ten minutes French kissing me. I felt pretty inexperienced and mediocre compared to him. I had to stop him when his lips started drifting away from my face.

I giggled against my will. Probably because his lips tickled. "Seriously, I'd better get going." I kissed him on the cheek, as a sort of goodbye, and got out of the car. I didn't realize he was following me until I reached the front door. I gave him a look. "Riku…"

"What?" He lowered his voice, reducing the space between us. "Your parents aren't in, right?"

_Ugh_.

My face was on fire. I mumbled something and made to unlock the door. Well, I tried. But then Riku wrapped his arms around my torso and started brushing his lips against my neck and it was suddenly very hard to concentrate. "Seriously, Riku?"

He laughed, and my stomach did that weird somersault thing. Huh. "What?"

I sighed, and then I said something totally out-of-character. "Damn you and your good looks."

As soon as the words escaped my mouth, I regretted ever saying them. What the hell? Since when did I become flirty? Since when did I become a slut who let her boyfriend into her house when her parents weren't in so she could enjoy a heated making-out session?

Well, I somehow ended up letting him in, and we kissed again, only a lot more heatedly this time because there wasn't the awkward party music in the background and people weren't pushing at us from every direction. I remembered I was still a little drunk. That was probably the reason why I was kissing Riku like he'd disappear if I let him go.

We somehow ended up stumbling into the kitchen—which wasn't a surprise, because all the alcohol I'd consumed plus a low alcohol tolerance plus Riku tracing circles on the soft spot above my knee equaled a very disoriented Kairi.

I was probably starting to consider making out on the kitchen table when I heard the clank of an oven tray and the smell of baking filled my nose.

I hastily broke away from Riku as I took in the scene.

It was Namine—and Roxas—and they seemed to be baking. Roxas was holding a dripping wooden spoon and Namine was licking icing off her tiny fingers. They also looked like they'd been throwing flour at each other, or something. Namine gaped at first, but she managed to recover and shut her mouth pretty quickly, blushing.

"U-Um…" I knew I'd just walked in on a possible romantic scene. Or maybe not. But, yeah, it was pretty embarrassing that they'd had to see me nearly ripping Riku's shirt off. "S-Sorry…"

Roxas glanced between Riku and I, as if trying to understand why we'd been furiously making out barely seconds earlier. And then, I guess, something clicked. His eyes darkened, his jaw hardened, and he returned the wooden spoon to the bowl of the yellowish mixture. "I'd…I'd better get going."

"Yeah…" Namine frowned sadly, watching him regretfully as he packed up his stuff. He wiped his hands on his dark jeans and picked up his guitar, his backpack, his headphones, before giving Namine a parting wave.

I didn't miss the glare he shot in Riku's way before he slammed my front door.

Namine nibbled nervously on the remaining icing on her fingers, mixing the mixture, alone.

I felt exceedingly guilty for barging in on their love fest—I mean, baking date thing. Namine had gone back to being quiet and secluded.

I knew she wouldn't talk now that Riku was in the room.

I gave Riku a look, and he seemed to get the message, thankfully. He smiled, clearing his throat. "Hn…yeah, I think I should head home too."

I nodded, and he cut off whatever I was going to say next with another kiss. I stopped him before it got really racy, because Namine was there and I was a little tipsy and I knew it wasn't going to end well if I let him have his way. Oh, and I still flinched at his touch. I apparently wasn't comfortable with this...new arrangement. "Goodnight, Riku."

He chuckled and patted me on the head, giving me a sole kiss on the cheek before taking his leave.

It was awfully quiet once again.

I walked over to Namine, who was still trying to do something with the wooden spoon. "What're you doing?" I asked, for the sake of it.

She was quiet for a while. "Roxas says I should get rid of all the lumps."

I felt myself smile. "You guys were baking, huh?"

She nodded sheepishly, trying and failing to hide her blush. She said they were baking cupcakes. I decided to help her, because at the rate she was going, she wouldn't be done before the next week. She let me help her, watching as I smoothed out the cupcake mixture.

And then: "…how was the party?"

There was something in her voice that suggested she already knew how it turned out. I decided to tell her out front anyway. "…Riku asked me out on stage in front of, like, a hundred people."

Namine nodded. "And you said yes."

I frowned. "…of course I did."

She turned away. "Do you like him, then?"

"O…Of course I do."

"Hm."

She stopped talking after that. It was pretty obvious she didn't approve of our relationship anymore than Roxas did.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

School was crazy on Monday.

We were 'officially dating', which meant that all eyes were on us. Whenever I passed anyone in the hallways, they all broke into hushed gossip. It was obvious they were talking about me. I wasn't surprised, though. I'd known I'd be a target for fangirls if I said yes to Riku, thus making him no longer single, which pissed them all off, because they felt like I'd stolen their 'chance'.

The girls on the cheer team immediately bombarded me with questions—Did Riku give me a hickey? Did Riku get past second base? Did Riku and I have sex? With or without protection?

I was blushing over the sheer ridiculous of the questions, because, apart from the first question, the answers to all the others were no and, plus, it wasn't any of their business anyway. Yuna stepped in and told them to leave me alone, thankfully.

Several rumors were already being spread—like how we'd already had sex and I was probably pregnant, that the whole confession at his party had been staged beforehand, and that we were planning on eloping together. It was beyond stupid, but Riku said I should ignore them. I decided to trust him, since I had a feeling he'd been through a lot more.

Apart from during Sports and glee club, I didn't really have that much time to myself. Riku switched seats for every single class so he was sitting next to me. He followed me to my locker, dropped me off at every class he didn't have with me, held my hand as we walked into the cafeteria. That was the worst time of the day. Riku took the liberty to parade down the aisle, holding my hand, as if showing off his brand new prize.

Sure, it was pretty cute of him, but…I had a feeling I knew what Rikku had be saying about her clingy college boyfriend.

But I was new to this. Relationships, I mean. So I felt it was okay, normal even, for a guy to be clingy at first. I hadn't seen how Shuyin and Lenne had acted when they first got together, but I had a feeling they were like that once.

I cringed as I looked at Shuyin and Lenne, leaning on each other and mouth-feeding each other. Ew. Were Riku and I ever going to be like that?

Riku…I didn't deserve him, really. There was something different about him now that we were together. An aura of niceness radiated from him; it was like he'd forgotten how to be mean, honestly. He smiled at everyone, didn't bitch when someone walked in his way, even said hi to Selphie, which is saying something. Rikku had once told me that Riku had strongly disliked Selphie ever since they were kids, so him being nice to her was pretty shocking.

Riku informed me that evening that he was taking me out, which I found pretty sudden. We'd only been going out for less than 24 hours. I tried not to let my discomfort show, though.

I was also pretty peeved because I'd been looking forward to hanging out with Sora after school. I hadn't really had any time to talk with him since the party, since Riku was following me everywhere and my friends wouldn't stop gushing and all.

Well, I knew I'd have to cancel all my plans for that evening, especially when Lenne and a bunch of the girls found out and informed me that they'd be coming over to help me get ready. Vanille would bring the dresses, Selphie would bring the makeup, Rikku would bring the fashion magazines, Lenne would bring the perfume. I couldn't exactly say no, especially since they'd already started planning the whole thing out and probably weren't going to listen to anything I said, anyway.

After an hour of going over our Regionals routine, which we still hadn't perfected, we all got into Yuna's car, because, according to Lenne, taking the bus was 'totally wrong'. I didn't get what she meant by that, and why she hadn't told me this earlier.

The girls who weren't in the glee club—Rikku, Ashe, and Cater and Seven, two other girls on the cheer team—were waiting for us outside, and followed us in their car. Selphie was running her fingers through my hair, as if already trying to figure out what to do with it. "You've got gorgeous hair, Kairi," she commented, inspecting the tips. The windows were wound down and the spring air whipped at our hair, so I was wondering why she didn't just wait until we got home.

"Thanks," I replied, smiling. I'd always thought my hair was a little annoying; it grew at an astonishing speed, so whenever I cut it it just grew back to the length it was originally—i.e. just brushing my elbows—in less than a month. I'd given up cutting it and just let it grow. I knew I was long due for a haircut—my hair had gotten ridiculously long.

"Why don't you do anything with it, then?" Selphie asked, frowning. "You've got long, silky hair—flaunt it."

"I do," I began to argue.

"Yeah, but after a while wearing ponytails and doing French braids gets boring," she insisted. "You could do a top-knot, or curl it or something."

"I do curl it…" I replied weakly, though I knew I limited myself to curling my hair only on special occasions. Like Riku's party and New Years and stuff like that.

"Hmm." Selphie continued glaring at my hair, whispering under her breath about gels and scissors and other disturbing things.

Thankfully my Mum wasn't in, because she'd gotten a job in the new swimming center and usually stayed late. (My Mum had always loved swimming—she was an excellent swimmer too and used to be nicknamed a mermaid for the way she swam—so she didn't mind staying up late as long as she got to stay in the water. Ever since we'd moved, we'd never really gone to the beach as a family because Dad had been too busy, and Dad didn't really like Mum going to the beach alone because, he said, he didn't want her parading around in a bikini in front of 'hormone-driven school kids'.)

"You are _so _lucky!" Vanille giggled. "I mean, you have, like, the whole house to yourself?"

I nodded, absently swiping at Selphie's hand as she tried to fix some of my split ends. "Well…I guess. At least until my Dad gets back."

I realized half of them were already halfway up the stairs and decided to follow them. They all waited for me at the top of the stairs, and I heard Rikku whisper something to Cater. I tried to ignore them as I opened the door to my room.

I blanched when I realized Namine was there.

She was sitting on the bed, legs crossed, with a familiar guitar propped on her lap. Her blonde hair was tied in a messy topknot, and she was in her stained white 'at home' t-shirt. There was a pile of sheet music next to her, and she was strumming the guitar tentatively as she sang. "_…tuck you in, turn on your favorite nightlight./To you, everything's funny/You've got nothing to regret_—"

Cater was the one who cut her off. "Um, what's_ she_ doing here?"

She stopped immediately, the strings making a strained twanging sound as she jerked, startled. Her eyes widened and her cheeks darkened when she realized she'd been caught. She swallowed nervously, slowly climbing down from her bed.

"Um…"

She bit down on her lip, giving me an apologetic look before picking up her sheet music and guitar and heading out.

Yuna and the rest gave me dubious looks, and I knew I had to explain what she was doing in my room. I had a feeling it didn't matter anymore if anyone knew we were related. Plus, I didn't particularly care anymore. "Yeah…Namine's my sister."

Cater and Seven shared disgusted looks. Vanille looked at me, like she wasn't sure whether I was kidding or not. "You serious? _She_'s your sister?"

I frowned. "…yeah. What—is there a problem?"

Ashe blew a large blue bubble, catching everyone's attention—I'd almost forgotten she was there. "You could have told us before."

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say to that. Yuna and Lenne had already gotten bored and began to discuss which perfumes Riku would like best. Cater, Seven, Vanille and Ashe started a hushed conversation, so the only person left was Selphie.

"I'm still trying to figure out what to do with your hair…" She groaned, unsheathing her hairbrush and curlers. "I don't care. I'm just gonna wing it. Sit."

I did, and Selphie set to work, the others joining in soon after.

They spent two hours rubbing stuff on my face, plucking my eyebrows, applying and reapplying makeup, drenching, pulling and wrenching at my hair, and generally dolling me up. It was torture. Vanille manufactured dresses out of thin air (okay, so maybe not, but I was in the dark about most of the things they were doing while Selphie was yanking my hair and daubing green stuff all over my face), and I went through a maximum ten dresses before we landed on what Rikku called 'the dress'.

It was a sea-green prom-like dress with a sequined hem and ruffles lining the bodice, and, thankfully, it wasn't an annoying itchy material, so it felt pretty comfortable. Vanille had found me a comfortable pair of simple white flats, which was comforting, because my feet still hurt from the previous night. (I'd banished the killer heels to the back of my wardrobe. I felt pretty stupid for ever buying them.)

Anyway, they hadn't gone all out with the make-up, like I'd thought they would, which was a relief. Selphie had applied just enough—not too much, not too little. She'd abused the mascara, sure, but apart from that she'd been pretty moderate. She'd applied just the right amount of lipstick, just the right amount of foundation. I was pretty happy with _that_.

I did feel pretty uncomfortable that my dress showed off way too much of my back, and that the dress was too short, and that I looked slutty, but when I told the girls this, they just shrugged and said: "No problem. Riku totally digs sluts."

"What?"

"Trust me," Lenne added, mentally debating which perfume I should put on—_Wonderstruck _or _Rebelle Fleur_? "I wore this saucy red number on _our _first date, and he went totally crazy."

The rest of the girls giggled, like they all had some inside joke that I didn't know about. I resisted the urge to frown and absently dug through my jewelry box. (They'd left that to me, thank god. I slipped on the bracelet he'd gotten me, since I figured he'd want me to wear it, and I kept the necklace on. I'd been wearing the necklace for days, and I'd sort of grown attached to it.) For some reason, it irked me, how they made Riku sound. They made it seem like I was just part of his routine, like he was some kind of playboy and that he was going to get over me eventually.

I wondered what Sora would have done in my situation.

Then I remembered that, oh, right, he was a guy.

_Sora…_ Barely a day had passed and I was already starting to miss him. It was weird. Sure, we were best friends, but…

I remembered the glare Roxas had given Riku, the disapproving look Namine had given the both of us…and then Sora's encouraging smile. _Go for it_.

Why…why did it hurt me, knowing he didn't seem the least bit bothered by our being together?

The bell rang, snapping me out of my mental debate and into the real world, where I was about to head off on a date and where Riku was ringing at my doorbell.

"That's him!" Vanille squealed, pointing through the window. Sure enough, she'd seen the rear end of Riku's car.

"Here comes your man~," Lenne sang.

I felt strangely nervous all of a sudden, and Selphie finished oiling my hair and quickly twirled it up into a simple ponytail, letting some of my bangs frame my face. Simple yet sweet, she said.

"Man, does he look sexy in that tux!" Cater added.

I immediately started to feel self-conscious as they followed me down the stairs. "Are you sure this dress isn't too short? It's way too low-cut, isn't it? What if he doesn't like slutty anymore—"

"Quit the crap talk, doll," Lenne snapped, patting me on the head. "You look amazing. He'll do a double take when he sees you in this." She grinned. "Now…go have fun!"

And then she ushered me out the door.

* * *

Riku was there, sure enough, sitting in the front seat of his car. He grinned at me, and I realized there was something between his lips. I cringed when I realized what it was—a cigarette.

_Since when did Riku smoke_?

I tried not to show my discomfort as he opened the door for me. I was doing pretty fine until he tried to kiss me.

He frowned, tendrils of smoke escaping from his lips. "What?"

I cringed. "You smoke?"

He blinked, and then tossed the cigarette out the window. "No."

I tried to abate my disgust, looking out the window. He rolled down the windows, so soon enough the smell subsided, which was good. I decided not to ask where we were going—Yuna had already told me where were going. It was a restaurant at the side of town called the Fal'Cie Parlor. Lenne said it was pretty fancy.

And she was right. It looked like a restaurant that came straight out of the heart of Paris, with classy ruched curtains, impeccable carpeting, finely decorated tables…if my Mum was there she would have fangasmed.

The guy at the counter, who was most likely the manager and, judging by his nametag, was called Ryan Whittaker, grinned when he saw me. He and Riku seemed to be friends, judging from the way he patted Riku on the head and ushered us to our seats.

He flirted quite a lot, but I knew he was just being nice, and Riku didn't seem to mind it at all. We chatted while we waited for our food, and I hadn't really been focusing when I ordered a cheeseburger.

"Wow," Riku chuckled when my cheeseburger arrived, pickles and cheese and tomatoes and all. I suddenly realized how hungry I was. "Impressive."

I knew I'd started blushing, and I dug into my huge cheeseburger to hide it. I knew it wasn't working. All I ended up doing was smearing ketchup all over my nose.

He laughed as I mentally punched myself for being so clumsy. He leaned closer, wiping at my nose with his thumb. "You're so adorable."

Yeah. That did _nothing _at all to help reduce the color in my face.

We eventually finished eating, and I was glad he suggested a walk because I felt like a pig for eating all that meat. Then again, I hadn't eaten anything fattening for ages, because my friends were health freaks and called anything with more than two hundred calories 'evil'. Except with Sora.

_Sora…_it was crazy how I couldn't stop thinking about him. And I was on a _date_. The fact that he hadn't reacted at all irritated me to no end.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. I was Riku's girlfriend. That was what I wanted, wasn't it? This was what I'd been dreaming of ever since I moved here, wasn't it?

Then why did it feel so…weird?

"Kairi?"

_Shoot. _"Huh?"

He smirked, his cyan-aquamarine eyes shimmering in the moonlight. "What were you thinking about?"

_Crap_. "N-Nothing…I was just…" I trailed off, not really knowing what to tell him. I couldn't tell him I was thinking about Sora…that'd just be awkward.

He wrapped his arms around me, and I realized how cold I'd gotten. He felt like a heater. I leaned into his arms, trying to push the other thoughts to the back of my mind. Every once in a while we'd speak up to tell each other random things, I guess, to fill the silence.

The sound of the waves was relaxing, and it made me feel pretty drowsy. "We should come here more often. I love the beach."

"Me too," I heard him say. I shivered as he kissed my forehead, pulling me closer to him. I couldn't argue that it felt good. His familiar smell was still on his clothes; it was pretty soothing. "We'd better get heading back, though. It'll soon be your curfew."

I nodded. "Okay."

We began heading back, his arm still slung around my back. "Do your parents know we're dating?"

I shook my head. Of course they didn't. "They've got enough on their minds as it is. My Dad will freak if I tell him I've started dating you." I snorted. "And, trust me, you don't want to know how my Dad gets when it comes to…guys."

His chest vibrated as he laughed. "Nah. It's pretty normal for a Dad to want his daughter to be protected."

I turned away, a blush creeping up on my face again. _Why does he have to be such a…gentleman?_ I could feel his gaze on me, and I was suddenly grateful for the way Selphie had done my makeup.

He kissed me on the cheek as we reached the car. "C'mon."

The drive home was pretty uneventful; Riku wasn't in full frontal kissing mode, which meant I had time to breathe. My mind absently drifted back to that afternoon, when we'd caught Namine singing in my bedroom. I remembered the way they had looked at her like she was some kind of insect, the way she'd cringed when she saw them looking at her. I felt pretty bad for not stepping in to help her or anything. I wondered if she was mad at me.

Then I wondered…since when had Namine gotten a guitar?

We eventually arrived at my house, and Riku followed me, even though I told him he didn't need to. His smile totally blinded me, and it was pretty hard for me keep my glare. I knew he was following me because he wanted to make out, so I decided to play along. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. "Thanks. For taking me out, I mean."

He chuckled, his minty breath tickling my cheeks. "Yeah. I enjoyed it too."

"Mm." I kissed him swiftly on the lips, and then, before he could do anything else, pulled away and let him go. "Well…g'night."

He struggled to hide his obvious disappointment. "Night."

I gave him one last smile before turning around and slipping into the house.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I knew something was off when I got in and Mum wasn't in the kitchen. She was almost always cooking at this hour, so it was pretty eerie.

I heard voices coming from the living room, a deep laugh. It didn't belong to my Dad—I knew that for sure. Curious, I headed to the living room, thinking maybe it was one of Mum's new colleagues, or something.

I froze when I saw the scene in front of me.

Mum was at the table, along with two others—Namine, and a guy who looked vaguely familiar. He had strawberry-blonde hair, gelled in a style that made him look both sophisticated and daring. He arched an eyebrow when he saw me, scanning me briefly with his eyes and giving me an approving wink.

I blinked, disturbed, before giving Mum a questioning look. She apparently hadn't noticed the weird guy at the table had just given me a once-over.

"Oh, hey, Kairi," Mum greeted, grinning. "This is Chris, Namine's boyfriend."

I jerked my head back to the guy at the table, and I remembered where I'd seen him. In Namine's sketchpad a while back. He had the same eyes, chiseled jaw, sneering grin.

_But…wasn't he called Seifer? _

His flirtatious smirk disappeared whenever Mum looked at him, being replaced with a seemingly rehearsed 'president's son'-type smile. He'd gelled his hair back and was wearing a crisp black suit. _Oh. _I immediately caught on. He was trying to impress Mum so she'd let Namine stay with him. If I hadn't seen him checking me out, I might have been convinced as well.

I decided I didn't like him.

"Chris, this is my daughter, Kairi,"

I gave him a strained nod, still trying to figure out why he'd changed his name, before letting my eyes drift to Namine, who looked exceedingly uncomfortable, sitting next to him. She wouldn't stop chewing on her nails, fidgeting in her seat, playing with her hair.

I didn't want to get caught in anything and decided to head back upstairs, hoping that by the time I changed into my PJs and brushed my teeth he'd be gone.

I headed upstairs, changed into the only clean pajamas I had,—the stupid lacy ones—, pulled on some socks, and headed back down for some strawberry milkshake. I was trying to reach the top shelf, where some idiot had kept my 'Milkshake Cup' (yeah, because I refused to drink milkshake in any cup apart from my polka-dotted green tumbler) when someone placed their arm on my shoulder.

I jolted in surprise, and my eyes widened in shock when I saw who it was.

Chris. I mean Seifer. I mean…ugh.

Whatever. He was standing way too close to me, and I could smell the murky scent of cigarettes washed over with some kind of cheap cologne.

He raised an eyebrow at me, getting my Milkshake Cup down from the shelf with ease. "You know, if you wanted my help you could have just asked."

I hesitated, still trying to figure out how long he'd been watching. "Um…I didn't know you…"

I heard him chuckle. I could hear the sound of the TV from the living room. He leaned closer to me, placing my Milkshake Cup in my waiting hands. "There you go."

I blushed, because I'd started to become an expert at that.

He grinned, and I tried not to focus on the scar that ran across his nose. I wondered how he'd gotten _that _past Mum. Heck—I wondered what he'd told Mum that made her believe he was a suitable boyfriend. If she thought Chris-I-Mean-Seifer was acceptable, then that'd mean there was no harm in me telling her about Riku.

I felt his hand massaging my shoulder, my neck. "Damn, you're cute. Too bad I didn't find you before I found…Namine." I froze as he fingered my bra strap, his steamy breath making my body go numb. His eyes scanned me hungrily, and I knew I had to do something before he did anything serious.

In my _kitchen_.

But my body wasn't responding—I was too overcome with fear. He stroked my thigh and I felt my heartbeat speed up crazily, but I was unable to move, scream, or do anything, really.

I didn't know what he might have done if Namine and Mum hadn't walked in at that moment.

"Oh, there you are, Kairi!" Mum waved, glancing at 'Chris'. She apparently hadn't seen what had just happened. "Namine says you guys have to go…"

Namine's eyes were darting sporadically between me and Seifer, her knuckles becoming whiter each passing second as she clutched onto her phone. I tried to focus on steadying my breathing.

"Ah, yes." 'Chris' scratched the back of his head, letting out a rehearsed chuckle. The predatory look in his eyes had disappeared, and he gave Mum one of his fake 'courteous' smiles. "We have a dinner date tonight—don't want to be late!"

I thought of pointing out that it was nearly nine and that no sane person went out on a date at nine in the evening, but Mum didn't seem to think this was a problem at all. "Sure, sure. We won't hold you guys back any longer." She beamed, giving Seifer a pat on the shoulder, like she'd known him forever.

Seifer said that he'd give Mum a call as soon as they got home, and 'thanks for the cake'. Namine refused to speak, her eyes staring blankly at me. As Mum gave her hair a few final retouches—I figured Mum was the one responsible for the _ribbons_ in Namine's hair—I had to look away from Seifer's teasing look.

And then Mum kissed Namine on the cheek, wished them a good night, and ushered them out of the house.

"Oh my gosh, Kairi! Isn't he a gentleman!" Mum squealed like an infatuated schoolchild. And then, before I could answer, she added: "Did you know he's majoring in interior decorating?"

"What?" I cut in. "He's in uni?"

"Yes, he's a freshman," she continued. "And he teaches swimming, can you believe it? I can't believe I was scared of meeting her boyfriend! And I don't get why she's been so reluctant to bring him over…" She shook her head, and I followed her as she cleaned the living room table. "And he's really handsome…Kairi, why haven't _you _gotten a boyfriend?"

I decided to change the subject. "How do you think Dad's gonna react when he finds out about…Chris?"

Mum shrugged."Not going to tell him. I say we stick with keeping him in the dark. It's for Namine's own good, and you know that."

I had a feeling Mum was somehow benefiting from this. "What's in it for you?"

She hesitated. "Nothing."

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess—the only reason you like him is because he likes home decorating."

I followed her to the kitchen as she soaked the plates. "Well…that is part of it…" She saw my look. "Okay, a _big _part of it…he says he'll recommend me to his clients." She sighed dreamily. "But isn't it great? He says he met Namine when he was in high school. He was her Math tutor, he says. He's stuck with Namine through the thick and thin, through Eric's death and all her dark days…" She sighed, giving me a look. "I think she deserves someone like him, okay? It's not entirely about me and my preferences for anything home deco."

I shrugged. "Right. And you think _he's _the one for her?"

Mum shrugged. "Who wouldn't? He could be her tutor…maybe he'll propose to her at her graduation…"

I marveled at how Seifer had pranced in here, conjured a whole lot of lies, and won my Mum over instantly. I knew, however, that there was something very wrong going on between Seifer and Namine.

And I knew I needed to find out what it was.

It was only then that I realized how hard I'd been holding my Milkshake Cup. My knuckles had turned almost as Namine's. Seifer's predatory grin flashed in my mind, and I felt increasingly scared for Namine.

I didn't feel like a milkshake anymore.

* * *

**Yes…here it is. Sorry for the lack of SoKai. Hehe. **

**All you RiKai fans…REJOICE! **

**Well…what to say…? Sorry for the late update, I guess? Oh, and have any of you read 'The Help'? I haven't… XD But the writer came to my school, and she kind of made me want to write my own book even more. If I wrote one, would you guys read it? Just asking…**

**Anyway. Sneek Peek? I can give you one today…hehe. Me no feel like being evil.**

* * *

_"He...He's been teaching me..."_

"_I…I don't think this is working."_

"_Did you seriously have to do that?"_

"_I quit."_

"_You cut your hair?"_

* * *

**Hehe…yeah…I'm really having fun writing these chappies, because I've actually been planning these chappies since, like, chappie three. XD You have no idea how many drafts I've written…**

**Anyway. Read. Review. Have fun. And remember—I don't go by that stupid 'DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ' maxim, which means Flames are accepted. ^^**

**XXXX LOVE Y'ALLZ. *hugs***


	24. Skinny Love

**A/N: Here I am, back again! **

**So, how's life been? Good. School? Sucking, as usual. Home? Okay…my little sister acts like a bum, but I've gotten pretty used to that by now. TV? Awesome, Modern Family never ceases to crack me up—**

**What the hell? God, I keep forgetting that not everyone cares. XD How selfish of me. **

**Replies? **

**The Traveler: Hehe, I know. Not that many people like RiKai…which is why it's not really the main pairing. XD I love emo Sora too! Yays…anyway. SEIFER…yeh. He sucks. Boo. *throws chair at him* I would love to make Squall beat him to death, but…you know. Plot. Oh, and Squall's, like, only five years or so older than Seifer in this fic… (Seifer's almost twenty, and Squall's almost twenty-five… XD). But…yeah. Enjoy! If you're still reading this…**

**Superpeanutbutter: Hehe I know! Seriously…tongue already? Hehe…well he's a guy who's used to moving fast then, I guess. XD And yeah…hehe…lol…I think I wrote on your dA page. xD **

**Prince of Flame just too lazy: SORRYSORRYSORRY FOR NOT REPLYING TO YOUR REVIEW IN THE LAST CHAPPIE! *gasp* Anyway, thanks for the compliments! And are you dyslexic? *double-gasp* You're just like Sora-kun, then! xD I know…DDD has Riku with short hair…but he's not cutting his hair in this fic! At…at least not yet…xD And yeah…I love writing Vanitas…HE ROCKS! Xion and Riku…go check out Apologize. XD Anyways, enjoy! **

**Onto the chappie, I guess!**

**About the chappie: Hmm…A LOT more drama than the last chappie. Yesh. I'm not kidding. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own…DURRR. As if I'd write a fanfiction on something I own… *snorts***

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I say yes._

"Of course I'll go out with you, Riku."

_And go on a date with Riku._

"Thanks. For taking me out, I mean."

_And Mum meets 'Chris' a.k.a SEIFER._

"He says he met Namine when he was in high school…I think she deserves someone like him…"

_Mum seems impressed, but I know better…_

"Damn, you're cute. Too bad I didn't find you before I found Namine."

_I know something's wrong, and I know I have to find out what it is._

_I also know that, for some reason, Sora being with another girl and him not caring about Riku and I doesn't sit well with me._

…_and why, you may ask?_

_Like hell I know._

* * *

**Chapter 24: Skinny Love**

At first I tried to ignore it.

Lenne, Yuna and the rest had given me a whole timetable of the places Riku was going to be taking me in chronological order—and they were surprisingly accurate. I tried to ignore the fact that pretty much everything—from the walks in the park to the 'romantic' dinners under the stars—were all rehearsed and used for every single girl he went out with.

The schedule didn't last for more than three weeks—and that was what scared me the most. What made me so special? How did I think I was going to last more than any of the other girls he'd dated?

I got my answer on Saturday—because, yes, Riku insisted we go out on _weekends _as well. I didn't want Mum or Dad to see him, since they were usually home on Saturdays—well, Dad was anyway. I lied that I was going off to hang out with Sora—and they totally bought it—and headed over to Riku's house. I'd gotten his address from Yuna, who said she'd accidentally found out where he lived once when they were dating. He'd gotten pretty mad at her, she said—he apparently didn't want anyone to find out where he lived. I got pretty wary when I found this out, but she said it wasn't really that much of a deal since a bunch of other girls had stalked Riku home and knew where he lived anyway.

Anyway, I found his house, which…wasn't as impressive as I'd imagined. I wasn't sure what I'd imagined…but I hadn't imagined a house so…so _normal_. Riku was the kind of guy who could afford a birthday at the _Emporium_, so I'd figured he probably lived in some kind of suburban private condo with an ocean view.

He didn't. His house was unbelievably boring.

And scary.

There was something off about it. It didn't give off that cozy feel, like Sora's did. It just looked…cold.

Riku was surprised to see me, but he let me come up to his room. I took off my shoes before following him. I absently inspected my surroundings. The walls were a sickening yellowy-beige color, like puke. The carpets were bloodred. There were the ghosts of old photos on the walls. I shivered—it was like some weird haunted house or something.

Riku didn't seem in the least bit bothered. His room was a bit better, though. Posters of famous football and Blitzball teams were plastered all over one of the walls. A pile of magazines lay on his bed, intermingled with a few t-shirts and underwear. On his desk was a white Apple MacBook Pro and a few textbooks, along with his bookbag. The window let in a soft yellow glow, making the room look a lot less scary than the rest of the house.

"Make yourself at home," he said, patting me on the head. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

I nodded, taking a seat on the edge of his bed in waiting. After listening to him make weird noises in the shower for longer than I needed to, I decided to make myself useful and help clean up his room. I started by clearing the stuff off his bed, folding his underwear (which I figured was clean) and piling his magazines. I cringed when I realized he read Playboy magazine. _Ew_.

I redid his bedding, and then I moved onto his desk. I arranged his textbooks, trying to fit most of them in his bookbag, but realized their wasn't enough space, so I looked around for a random drawer to stuff them in.

I opened the first drawer…and froze.

There had to be at least a hundred condoms in that place.

A million questions went flying through my head right then. Why did Riku keep condoms in his desk? Why the hell would he need that many anyway? Where the hell did he _get _all of them?

My cheeks burned—but I wasn't sure if it was out of anger or embarrassment.

I cringed when I heard Riku emerging from the bathroom. "I'm not gonna lie; I feel totally—"

I pulled my eyes away from the drawer, shutting it closed with a thud. "Riku…"

Riku had stopped talking, obviously realizing something was wrong. I was trying too hard to keep a straight face to realize he was in nothing but a towel.

He approached me, his cheeks darkening slightly. "Hey." I watched as he picked up a pair of his boxers from the pile I'd made on the bed. He probably hadn't noticed I'd cleaned up his room. "What—you gonna watch me dress up?"

I was too angry at him to react. Being in the same room as him was getting way too uncomfortable. He searched my face, confused. I eventually couldn't take it anymore. "I'll…be waiting outside."

"Hey." He caught me before I could really go anywhere. I refused to look at him, because I knew I'd either burst into tears or scream at him, and, in the worst case, do both. I had to look at him, eventually, especially when he started shaking me. "What's up with you?"

I felt the tears coming on. "Riku…I…I don't think this is working."

Shock. And then pain. His eyes said it all. "Wh…What?"

I hesitated, but I eventually snapped. "Riku, what am I to you?" I didn't let him answer. "Just another priceless work of art in your gallery of 'chicks you'd like to fuck', huh?"

Okay, so I'd stolen part of my statement from a song, but Riku didn't need to know that.

He was quiet for a while. "N-No…what would ever make you think that?"

"L-Lenne, a-and Yuna and the rest of them…" I knew I was acting pretty immature, ratting on the girls like that. I also knew I probably looked like a baby, crying over something most girls probably thought wasn't such a big issue. But after all that had happened in the past, I knew I didn't want to be used, viewed as some toy he could play with whenever he wanted, and scrap when he got tired of playing with it. "It's pretty depressing knowing that all these dates are just being recycled and reused on every single girl you stumble upon." I yanked my arm away from his grasp, watching his expression. "For a second you had me fooled that you actually liked me, you know. But I'm not as dumb as you probably thought I was. I'm smart enough to figure out where this relationship is going. And I don't want to look stupid when you eventually get tired of me and—mmph!"

He cut me off with a kiss, which I thought was both really cheesy and terribly annoying. I had the urge to hit him on the head with one of his textbooks and yelling "I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TALKING TO YOU, DAMMIT!". But I couldn't, because my legs started to feel weak and I had that crazy feeling in my stomach again. Ugh.

I hadn't realized he'd pulled away until he started talking. "Kairi…" He chuckled. "I thought you knew me better than that."

I mumbled something incoherent.

He smiled. "I can't blame you, though. I mean, I've been pretty inconsiderate to women in general in the past but…" He sighed, looking me in the eyes. "You aren't 'just some girl' to me, Kairi. You're…" He let out a deep chuckle. "…to be honest, you're the first girl I've actually liked…"

I'd planned on saying something totally cheesy back to him, but I was at loss for words. The intensity of his gaze was overwhelming.

"You're much more important than just some accessory," he continued. "You're…you know, I don't really have any words to describe you without it sounding incredibly corny."

I giggled as he finished his mini speech. "You hit Maximum Corniness when you sang to me at your birthday, so I don't see how one more can hurt."

He chuckled, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "Want me to sing you another song?"

I shrugged, not wanting to sound mean. "Depends which one." I froze, cringing. "But…I think you should wear some pants first."

He unconsciously looked down, as if just realizing he wasn't wearing anything except his towel around his waist. And then he looked back at me with one of his signature cocky grins. "What? Am I making you uncomfortable?"

I rolled my eyes at that, while he just laughed. "I'll try and hurry up. You know, a face this amazing takes a lot of work." I made a face, getting _another _laugh out of him. He seemed to laugh a lot around me. I felt myself flinch as he kissed me on the forehead, whispering into my ear the two words I couldn't give an answer to. _Love you_.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was weird, but I found myself unconsciously trying to flaunt my relationship with Riku in Sora's face. I'd kiss him whenever he walked by, hold his hand as we walked into the cafeteria, laugh at all Riku's jokes—even the lame or perverted ones…

I tried to pass myself off as a girl who was totally infatuated with her boyfriend. It seemed to work on everyone—apart from Sora.

He remained unresponsive, not even reacting when we had to cancel all our meets so I could go out on dates with Riku. He even said "Have fun" once or twice.

And then he stopped having time to hang out with me. We barely had time to hang out anymore. Roxas wouldn't answer me when I asked him where Sora was going all the time, and I didn't have time to ask him myself.

It annoyed me to no end, but I knew bitching wouldn't get me anywhere. I was almost totally convinced he wasn't bothered in the least about us.

Until one day.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We were in Drama, going over the final scenes. Sephiroth had already arranged for the costumes and props, so a bunch of builder guys were busy working on stuff at the back of the room. I was pretty thankful that we were doing the 'Rescue Scene', (which, apparently, 'would take a lot of work'), because I was starting to get sick of watching the girls flirt with them.

I hadn't talked to Sora in a while, so it was a bit awkward initiating conversation. "So…you ready?"

He nodded, silently. I bit down on my lip, trying to think of something to talk about. I cringed at the taste of lipstick on my lips—the girls had _insisted _I wear more, and, plus…it seemed to get Riku's attention.

Sora sighed, turning to me with bored eyes. "You know this song?"

I said duh. _Superhuman_, by Chris Brown and Keri Hilson. It was flying off the charts a few years ago. _Everyone _knew that song.

He nodded, and the silence returned. It was weird…we never used to run out of things to say. It was awkward. Probably because we hadn't talked in ages. I watched him, scanning the lyrics on the paper, his eyebrows creased in concentration.

My mind had just begun to wander when Sephiroth pressed the play button on the CD, and the piano interlude blared through the speakers. Everyone shut up; people had come to learn that you do _not _want to get Sephiroth angry. He carries around a sword, for godsake.

Sora began the song.

"_Weak, I have been crying and crying for week_

_How'd I survive when I could barely speak?_

_Barely eat?_

_On my knees_…"

I very nearly forgot to join in. I'd missed singing with Sora, and I'd almost forgotten how great it was, to sing with him. _"But that's the moment you came to me/I don't know what your love has done to me…" _I felt my cheeks start to burn, but I wasn't sure why. It wasn't that hard for me to connect with the lyrics, which, I suppose, made me perform better.

I soon forgot we were in Drama, and suddenly all I could see was Sora. Sora's eyes, Sora's lips, Sora's face, Sora's voice, blending in perfect harmony with mine. Somewhere along the line we began circling each other, choreographically, along with the beat of the music.

"_My only weakness is you_

_My only reason is you_

_Every minute with you_

_I feel like I can endure—anything…"_

I didn't know what was wrong with me. The strange feeling I got in my chest whenever I kissed Riku was there—except this time it was even more intense. My palms were sweaty, my knees were weak, and I couldn't break away from his ardent gaze.

"_Nothing can stop me here with you…_"

The space between us gradually diminished as we neared the end of the song, and I could taste his breath, smell his warm, comforting smell on his uniform shirt. Alarm bells were going off in my head like crazy, and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. _What…what's wrong with me?_

"_Superhuman…_"

I felt something warm touch my cheek, and I realized it was his hand. I pulled my eyes away from his neck, looking up at his face.

And then I saw it. The look in his eyes that told me that there was a chance that, no, Sora wasn't totally unaffected by Riku and I being together.

The look in his eyes…

Pain. Sadness. Regret.

And then…something else. Something else I was too scared to pinpoint.

And then the bell rang, breaking me out of my trance and bringing me back to the real world. I heard the sound of clapping, somewhere far off. I couldn't bring myself to break away from Sora's gaze, even when he did. Sephiroth said something about choreography and jobs, and then he dismissed the class.

He turned back to me, then, and the emotion took me off guard. I averted my gaze, the awkwardness overwhelming.

And then I felt someone's strong arms around me, someone's lips buried in my hair, and then the distinctive minty-aftershave smell. I turned back to Sora, almost afraid to see his reaction.

But all he did was smile, giving me one of his small, sunny grins, and it was like I'd just imagined the hurt, pain and despair I'd seen barely moments before. Had I been imagining things? Was Sora seriously okay with Riku and I…?

But his smile wavered, and, for the first time since Riku's birthday, I saw how much Sora was struggling to look okay with it.

I might have been exaggerating things, he might have been sad for a completely unrelated reason or whatever, but I was happier going with my theory. It made me feel less irritated.

I shrugged myself out of Riku's hold, giving him a small glare. I was pretty pissed as his territorial behavior, like I was one of his toys he didn't want to share. "Did you seriously have to do that?"

"Do what?" He asked, a silver eyebrow raised.

"It's just…" I hesitated, but decided to drop it. Riku wouldn't understand. "Never mind."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"I quit."

It was unexpected, shocking, and it totally took everyone on the team off guard—Penelo quit the cheer team.

We were going over our next cheer—well, at least we were supposed to be. (The girls apparently had a Cheer Championship coming up, but those in the glee club were allowed to skip out. I skipped out.) We were learning a routine that consisted of several backflips and a few handstands, and were about to lift Fang up into the air when Penelo declared her resigning.

"What?" Fang hissed, giving Penelo a disapproving look.

"I said I'm quitting the Cheer Team. I've realized it was dumb joining this team anyway, since joining it meant losing my best friends."

"You're serious?" Vanille whined. "You're seriously quitting?"

"Because of those dorks you sit with in the cafeteria?" Fang added.

Penelo, who had started to waver at Vanille's comment, looked determined once again. "Yes. I'm serious."

Fang scoffed, sharing looks with the other girls on the team. I had a feeling a lot of them knew that Penelo was a pretty important asset to the team. Even I knew that. Penelo was one of the judge's favorites at every competition. "You can'tjust _quit_ now."

"Watch me," she said primly, turning on her heels.

Fang had started to panic; it was written all over her face. She nudged Vanille in the shoulder. She got the message.

"Penny-chan!" Vanille wailed. "Please don't quit! We need you here! If you go then we'll never win the state championships!"

Penelo gave her a small smile. "You guys were doing fine before I came, right? You'll be fine."

She continued her march out of the basketball court, and Fang made one last attempt to prevent herself from being humiliated in front of the rest of the team. "Penelo! If…If you're leaving this team, then you're leaving the uniform, too!"

The rest of the team 'ooh'ed in approval, while Yuffie shook her head at the ridiculous of it all. I didn't even have to look at Fang to know she was serious.

Penelo turned back to us, her face burning red, though I wasn't sure if she was just angry or embarrassed. She seemed to be having a mental debate, pressing her lips together, darting her eyes from Fang, to her feet, to Vanille, to the other girls on the team, to the electrician who seemed to be taking an unnaturally long time to fix the lightbulb at the end of the hall. I had a feeling he liked seeing girls prancing around in miniskirts.

I had a feeling he'd like watching a girl undress a lot better, though.

Penelo eventually came to a decision, taking a deep breath and muttering: "Fine."

We all watched as she stripped down into her underwear—the others in amusement, me in pure horror. It was unfair, and rude, and, most of all, stupid. She shivered, walking up to Fang and dropping her outfit on a pile on the floor, before storming off the locker rooms.

It was sickening, watching the girls (well, most of them anyway) laugh at Penelo's plight, and I eventually couldn't take it anymore. I lied that I needed to take a bathroom break and ran to the locker rooms to find Penelo.

She was there, sitting on one of the benches in her rumpled uniform blouse and skirt. Crying.

She looked up when she realized I was approaching, wiping her eyes frantically on the back of her wrist.

"Hey, 'Nelo," I said, waving shyly. I'd heard Sora call her that once… "Are you okay?"

She ignored me, packing up the rest of her stuff. Her blonde hair was all over the place, and she still hadn't recovered from the blush.

"Penelo…" I whined. "I asked if you—"

"I'm fine," she chipped. "I'm…" Her voice wavered, and she collapsed into my open arms, wailing and sobbing about how she quit the cheer team and how her life was going to be over and how she knew that somehow a picture of her in underwear was going to appear on Facebook the next day and—and—

And then she just sobbed and sobbed and I took her to the girls' bathroom and wiped her tears, the same way I used to take care of Namine. Her sobs eventually reduced to a sniffle, and she was able to talk again. "Thanks…a lot, Kairi."

"No problem," I replied. "It was mean of them to do that, really. If cheering isn't making you happy…then don't do it."

She smiled. "I know. I'm not planning to. There's…there's someone who's a lot more important to me than popularity, I know that now."

By the time it occurred to me that she might have been referring to Sora, she was already long gone.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I'm not gonna lie—after I while I even started to convince myself that I really _was_ in love with Riku. He was fun to hang out with, his smile made me smile, he made me feel special. That's pretty much all the average teenage girl wants in a boyfriend.

He was really likeable, and I couldn't exactly say I wasn't enjoying dating him. But…I knew it wasn't enough. It was scary how easily he could tell me he loved me, while I could barely form a sentence when it came to evaluating how I felt about him. It just…didn't feel…_right_. He was totally not what I'd been expecting. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting, but…

I froze when I realized where I'd felt the same feeling I felt with him before.

At my fifteenth birthday, the first time Vincent had kissed me.

I choked on my paopu yogurt, startling Namine, who was in the middle of tuning her guitar. Well, it wasn't really her guitar…it looked oddly familiar.

Pushing _those _thoughts to the back of my mind, I cleared my throat and I asked her whose it was. Her cheeks turned a dark shade of red. "It's…it's…Roxas offered to teach me."

My eyes widened. "So he bought you a _guitar_?"

She tittered, shaking her head. "No…this is his guitar. He's…he let me…borrow it."

I nodded in realization, remembering the soft brown color, the designs on the neck. I smiled. _How cute_.

It was after school, and the only day of the week Riku wasn't taking me on a date. He said he had 'work'. (He'd, apparently, gotten a job down at the Seaside Shack. He told me this without me asking.) Anyway, it was pretty relieving that I had an evening to myself. With all that was going on in my life—Glee club, Cheer Practice, school, worrying over Sora, watching over my little sister—I hardly had any time to relax.

My eyes traveled to the sheets of paper next to her. They were probably the lyrics to a song. "What song're you singing?"

She hesitated. "Um…_Never Grow Up_, by Taylor Swift."

I resisted the urge to snort. I didn't really like Taylor Swift that much. But Namine did, so I tried to hide it. "Lemme hear it."

She hesitated. "…no."

I laughed, shaking my head and giving her the most encouraging smile I could. "Aw, c'mon, Nami-chan! It's just me!" I slid off my bed and crawled over to hers. "C'mon, Nami! No need to be so shy—"

"I said _no_."

Her voice was firmer this time, and it caught me off guard. She refused to look at me, averting her gaze. "Namine…" I laughed shakily. "What's wrong with you?"

"I should be asking _you _that," she snapped.

I frowned. "What…what're you talking—"

She looked at me then. "I _saw_ you." Before I could answer, she continued. "Flirting with my boyfriend."

I stared at her. "What? What're you—oh." _Oh. _I blushed for no apparent reason. "Namine…I swear I wasn't—"

"As if Sora and Riku aren't enough for you!" She wailed, fingers pressing harder on the guitar strings. "You just _have _to have everyone fall in love with you, huh?"

I huffed, fed up with her. "Shut up, Namine! It's all nonsense—you have no idea what you're talking about—"

"Like hell I do!" She screamed, standing up and dropping the guitar on her bunk. It made a twanging sound, but I was too preoccupied with calming Namine down to worry about Roxas' guitar strings. "You pretend to act like you're oblivious to everything, but I'm not dumb, Kairi. You like having as many guys as possible at your feet, don't you? You should have just left Seifer alone, Kairi!"

"I DID!" I yelled. "I don't even _like _him!"

"That never stopped you with Riku, did it?"

I hated to admit it, but I was speechless. I had nothing to say in return. It was now obvious Namine _knew _I was faking…but how? I'd even started to forget…

When Namine realized she'd caught me off guard, she decided to take her leave, picking up her bookbag, Roxas' guitar and her song lyrics. "Later," she mumbled coldly, before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

I felt angry—at myself, at Namine, but most of all at Seifer. It was like he _knew _Namine saw us, but didn't care. Like he knew she was going to bend to his will anyway.

I hated the look in his eyes he had whenever he looked at Namine. Like she was one of his most prized toys, or something. And the nervous, scared look she got whenever he took her hand, like she wanted to run away but couldn't, for some reason.

But what was it? What was the hold he had on her that was stopping her from breaking up with him?

I was still trying to piece my theory together, to find the missing link, when my eyes drifted to the window.

And I noticed, for the first time ever, how clear the view of Sora's bedroom was from my window.

Sora was there, but he wasn't alone. There was another girl there…a girl with black hair—Yuffie! Yuffie was in Sora's bedroom, and they seemed to be laughing and hugging and having a generally good time.

It hurt me that he hadn't told me anything about it. Or invited me over, or anything.

I shook that thought away. I was starting to sound like a huge brat. I mean, it's not like I invited him for anything anymore. It would have been awkward inviting him on a date with Riku and I, though. I'd learnt from experience—(the day I'd brought Sora over to the beach with me was apparently originally intended to be a date, at least that's what Riku told me)—that Riku didn't like double dates, or anything like that. He liked intimacy. And kissing. And touching my hair.

Anyway, I also had a feeling Sora didn't like being the third wheel.

I wasn't sure why, but I continued watching, like a teenybopper engrossed in a TV drama. They left the room for a few minutes, and then, just when I'd started to consider giving up, Sora returned, alone.

He disappeared into the periphery, and then reappeared, brandishing two dumbbells. I stared in astonishment as he lifted the weights with ease, as if he'd been doing it every single day since. Even though our houses were pretty close to each other, I couldn't read his lips, but I could see his expression. I tried to figure out what was on his mind…but I came up blank. It was scary how hard it was getting to read his mind.

I nearly choked on my yogurt spoon when Sora pulled off his shirt.

He'd…changed. Okay, so he wasn't even _near _Riku or anybody else I'd seen shirtless, for that matter—(and I'm referring to the guys on the Blitz team here)—but I'd gotten so used to seeing Sora's cute little kid stomach that seeing him with something _toned _was pretty startling. He didn't look Greek God gorgeous, but he looked…well. Almost cute.

I didn't realize how long I'd been staring until he turned his head my way and I knew I had to duck.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I knew it was going to be a bit of a shocker when I came to school with most of my hair chopped off on Wednesday. I'd made the decision by myself…even though it was a kind of reckless decision. And, yeah, Riku kind of had to do with it.

He and his friends had come over to mine for his 'movie night', because, apparently, Riku's house was getting fumigated. I knew there was something he wasn't telling me, by the way he couldn't look me in the eyes when he was telling me this, but I pretended to believe him. Anyway, he and his friends were watching Suckerpunch, which was a pretty bad movie with a lot of almost-naked girls in it. They all seemed to like it though, so…yeah. I watched it with them, though it was pretty hard to follow the storyline with all the commentary they were putting in. I was leaning on his chest and starting to fall asleep when I heard something that made me…well.

"You guys are disillusioned." I heard Riku chuckle. "Rocket is clearly the sexiest. Short hair is sexy."

It was one of my rare moments of insanity, but I had the sudden desire to hear Riku call _me _sexy.

…I probably drank a little too much. Okay, so I only drank, like, half a cup of beer, but even tiny amounts of alcohol get my head spinning. Anyway, I decided to go get it cut the next day. And I did.

I decided to go see Sora first, because I knew that if Riku spotted me I wouldn't have a chance to speak to Sora for the rest of the day. He was at his locker, getting his books for class, his spiky brown bangs shading his cerulean eyes and—um.

He didn't see my coming. "Hey, Sora!"

He turned around, a huge grin on his face. "Hey, Kai—" And then he blanched, as if seeing a ghost. "—whoa!"

His textbooks slipped from his fingers, slamming down on his foot.

"Ohmygod are you okay?" I gasped, bending down to help pick up his books.

He took no notice, wheezing out his reply. "You…Y-you—You cut your _hair_?"

"What—you don't like it?"

Judging from the look on his face, no, Sora didn't like it. Okay, so I'd expected some people to give me looks, especially since I'd had long hair for so long, but…I'd expected a little more appreciation from Sora. I had not expected him to _not_ like it.

The woman at the hairdresser's had said she'd cut it to make it look 'sweet yet sexy', which, I guess, was just what I wanted. She'd chopped it off pretty drastically, but I'd been satisfied with the results nonetheless. I knew it was going to grow back to its usual size (shoulder-length) in less than a month.

"I…" He seemed to be struggling to come up with an answer that wouldn't upset me. "I-I love it! It was just that you look so different…" He hesitated, laughing. "In a good way!"

I tried my best to make it look like I believed him. "Really?"

"Totally," he lied.

I smiled at him. And then, just for the sake of it, I pulled him into a hug.

It had been so long since we'd last hugged each other. I felt him wrap his arms around me, and I was just about to drown in his peppermint-slash-bakery smell when he pulled away, giving me a small smile before nervously looking around to see if anyone was watching.

I frowned sadly. He was right. Now that Riku and I were in a relationship, I had to be more careful about how I acted around Sora. Otherwise Riku might jump to conclusions and…

Well. I didn't really want to know what would happen to Sora if Riku suspected I was cheating on him. And I was sure as hell that I didn't want to see Sora get hurt.

* * *

**A/N: WATCH OUT FOR THE NEXT CHAPPIE! I know this is taking AGES to catch up with the rest…but…FOR THE SAKE OF PLOT DEVELOPMENT! Sorry for the length…I just want to split the happenings into equal amounts, yanno?**

**Thanksgiving…what is the point of this holiday? Americans just want to celebrate everything on the face of the earth, don't they? *sighs* Oh well…at least it means I have a week off school. XD **

**Anyway…uh…c'mere, lemme hug you all. *hugs***

**Oh, and also don't forget to check out the story 'Love Sick' by this awesome writer Jomatto. The fic is pure gold. There's a lot of big words in there too...he's, like, one of my best writers in terms of writing style. But his fics just don't get enough reviews! Show some love, people, and check it out while waiting for the next update! **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_How'd you like to join the Songstresses?"_

"_Try it."_

"_Riku…what happened?"_

"_I can't…I can't do this to him…"_

* * *

**Yeah…so…yeah. XD **

**See ya next week! Or whenever I update… XD **


	25. Hurt

**A/N: Now for the chappie you've all been waiting for! I think… XD **

**Lately I think we're starting to draw apart from each other…so, to get to know you guys evemn more, I'm gonna be asking you guys a bunch of random questions for you to answer in your reviews! ^^ **

**Today's Question: **_**Who is your favorite music artist?**_

**You all probably already know who mine is…TAYLOR SWIFT FOR THE WIN! Okay, so her music and voice may be average in some peoples' opinions, but I think she is a perfect role model, and I love her relationship with her fans. She doesn't use sex appeal to get fans, and she manages to look amazing at every award ceremony without dressing like a slut. I give her props for that. I wish all singers could be like her. (I mean, personality wise. XD). **

**Anyway. Enough ranting about my current musical obsession. About the chappie? Eh…I've said this before and I will say it again. There shall be drama. And tears. And angst. And…some kissing. *snigger***

**Disclaimer: NO.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Riku and I are an item. Still. _

"You aren't 'just some girl' to me, Kairi."

_Sora and I have a moment. Again._

"_Superhuman…_"

_Penelo quits the cheer team. _

"There's…there's someone who's a lot more important to me than popularity, I know that now."

_And I get into a fight with Namine._

"You like having as many guys as possible at your feet, don't you?"

_And lately I've been feeling weird around Sora…which isn't normal, is it?_

_Well…all I know is that if I'm not careful, Riku might start suspecting I _like-_like__Sora or something. _

_Which isn't true. _

_Right._

* * *

**Chapter 25: Hurt**

The Regionals approached, fast and furious, and Yuna pushed us even harder. Paine, the 'gothic hooker', had quit earlier in the year, which explained why I hadn't seen her for ages, but Yuna and Lenne insisted we could do it without her. Yuna insisted that we be absolutely perfect, and that we were going to win this year. We all pushed ourselves to the limit, and by Thursday afternoon, everyone was convinced that we'd done the best we could.

I asked Namine if she was coming, but she said that, no, she wasn't. She didn't really tell me why. She was still pretty mad at me, still sticking to her claim.

We all headed over to Yuna's to get our makeup and outfits done. Tidus and the guys even tagged along, though they had to get ready in the bathroom. True to Vanille's word, she made the outfits less slutty this time. We actually had two outfits—one for the slow songs and then one for our third, fast-paced song. For the first two songs, I wasn't one of the leads. Yuna had taken Tidus' advice, so now Olette, Serah, Zidane and Tidus had solos.

Selphie was getting my hair done when she asked: "So…how far have you gotten with Riku?"

My face felt hot. _Great. Not this question again_. "How long are you going to keep asking me this?"

She giggled, poking my cheek. "Until I'm satisfied with the answer."

I rolled my eyes. "We haven't _gotten _anywhere."

"Not even to second base?" Vanille gasped, and the rest of the girls joined in. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you a bunch of the cheer girls had decided to invite themselves over. They were working on Olette and Serah as we spoke, trying to figure out 'how to make Olette look pretty'. Which I found wasn't a nice thing to say, since Olette was one of the prettiest girls I knew.

I struggled to remember what second base was. I'd read a bunch of girl magazines during the summer, but I usually skipped stuff like that. Reading 'sex tips' and stuff like that wasn't really my thing, and for some reason it just made me feel embarrassed.

I decided not to answer them.

Selphie yanked at my hair, and I winced. "Ugh, you guys are so boring."

Several of the other girls agreed. One of them spoke up. "When Riku and I dated, _we _got to second base _all the time_."

A few others echoed her statement, and Yuna shrugged. "Well Riku and _I _got all the way to third base." She didn't say it like it was an achievement. She said it like it was a fact, like how anyone would say that the world is round or that the sun rises in the west or that paopu fruit is good for indigestion.

Lenne giggled. "Yeah…I remember when you told me that."

Vanille and a few of the younger girls gasped. "You did?"

"Duh," Yuna replied. She didn't really seem to think it was such a big deal that she'd almost gone all the way with my boyfriend.

"Yeah…" Selphie cut in. I saw a few of the girls on the cheer team roll their eyes. Not that many people liked Selphie. "I think he got the farthest with Yuna, now that we know he's never had sex with any of us."

Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement. It was like they'd forgotten I was there. Or maybe not, because Selphie yanked at another piece of my hair, rolling it through the curling iron.

Yuna chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Nah…I think it was Fang. I remember her telling me once that she and Riku almost went all the—"

I clamped my hands over my ears right then, because I was, honestly, starting to feel disgusted. For some reason, I didn't feel jealous, or inadequate, or the desire to beat them all or anything like that. I just felt grossed out. I mean, the number of girls Riku had gone through was sickening.

I distracted myself by humming 'Pretty Girl Rock' and making sure I remembered the lyrics. I realized there were a whole lot of other things I could have been doing right then, instead of trying not to listen to the girls discuss their expeditions with Riku.

Like watching Glee, or Teenage Wasteland, or some old Disney classics.

Or taking a nap in the garden.

Or going for a walk in the park, or playing Super Mario, or—

I stopped myself short when I realized something.

These were all things I used to do with Sora, before Riku asked me out and Sora was always busy and we didn't have time to hang out.

I sighed. _Great._ Ever since that day in Drama when we'd sung that song, Sora seemed to pop up in my mind at extremely random moments, and I just couldn't get that look he'd given me out of my head…

Selphie shook my shoulder; she'd apparently been talking me. "You're daydreaming, aren't you?" I shook my head, but she didn't buy it. "All this stuff you're hearing about your boyfriend must be making you horny, huh?" She laughed, like she'd just told the funniest joke in the world.

I frowned. "Actually, I was thinking about Sora, not _Riku_."

I immediately wished I hadn't said anything, because their expressions instantly changed to disgust. Sice raised an eyebrow. "You're still friends with…him?"

I shrugged. "…kinda…yeah."

A few of them groaned. Yuna and Lenne kept silent. Rikku shook her head. "Kairi, Kairi. You don't…like him, do you?"

I gave her a weird look. "No! We're just…" For some reason, I hesitated. "…friends."

"Hm. That's okay, I guess," Rikku said with a shrug.

Lenne changed the subject, which was nice of her, I guess.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

As the time passed by, I felt the nervousness creeping up on me again. I was probably the only one who didn't feel like I'd practiced enough, and I kept running over the lyrics in my head. I started freaking out when I repeatedly forgot a word, or mixed up my dance moves, or missed a note.

I must have been annoying everyone, because, after my umpteenth time repeating the same line, Lenne whacked me on the back of my head. "Quit spazzing. It's annoying."

"Sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my head.

Selphie shrieked. "You'll mess up your hair!"

She hadn't really done that much, apart from twist it into mini ringlets, because my hair was now too short to do anything elaborate with it. (Selphie had screamed at me when she'd found out I'd cut my hair, but I managed to convince her that it'd give her more opportunities to explore different styles, and she bought it.)

I gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

Vanille, Selphie and the rest went to the dressing room to redo their makeup, and I waited with Yuna and Lenne.

"You calmed down?" Lenne asked. I opened my mouth to reply, but she cut me off. "Good. Cause if you don't calm down, we're losing this."

We heard the lighting crew muttering about lights and stage smoke, getting ready for the presenter to take the stage. We saw a group of guys—pretty good-looking guys, for that matter—approaching us. I figured they were our opponents, and I thought of going to say hi, because I didn't want the same thing that happened last time, with _AVALANCHE_ to happen again. I hated being hated. It sucked.

I was about to wave at them when I noticed how tense Yuna looked, and the hatred in Lenne's glare. My eyes flitted between the girls and the guys, trying to figure out what was going on.

They walked up to us anyway, and the guy in the front, who appeared to be the leader, gave us a courteous smile. He was pretty hunky, and there was this wild look about him that made him mildly attractive. He had that werewolf-y appeal.

He leaned down until his face was barely inches from Yuna's. "Ah, lady Yuna. It is a pleasure."

Yuna's eyes were blank. "Seymour."

I instantly grew wary of him. Lenne made a strange hissing noise. "Leave her alone."

He chuckled, but there wasn't really any humor in it. I didn't feel like befriending him or any of the guys on his team anymore. His eyes fell on me, and he smirked. "Who's this?"

I frowned, hating him already. "I'm Kairi. I take it you're Seymour."

He nodded. "Yes. I am." He gave Yuna a look. "Yuna and I have a little history. We used to date each other, you know." He fingered a strand of her hair, and Yuna did nothing to stop him. Her eyes were still emotionless. Lenne made to whack his hand away, but he stopped her. "Why so serious? There is really no need for you to be such a bitch. I'm just saying hello to a beautiful young woman."

Lenne growled and stormed away, leaving Yuna and I alone with the group of guys.

I hated how he spoke with elegance when he was so…ugh. I gave myself a mental scolding—I couldn't go around judging people I didn't know. I guess I was just so biased about him because he reminded me so much of certain guys I'd encountered in the past…

I pushed away the memories before they could resurface. "Don't you think you should be getting ready for your performance?"

Seymour's eyes turned to me, as if he'd lost all interest in me. "We're always ready."

I gave Yuna a wary look. She'd finally gained control of herself, but she just looked…scared.

And this was weird, because the Yuna I knew _never _looked scared—she only made other people scared. She'd always been the brick wall of our group, hardly ever letting anyone see what she felt. I'd always been jealous about the way she could pretend she was happy or amused when she wanted, even when she wasn't. I'd always wished I could do that. Especially during the times when the memories came flooding back. Which was starting to happen disturbingly often.

"Get ready to lose for the third year in a row." Seymour lowered his voice and I had strain my ears to catch what he whispered in her ear: "Because I _always _get what I want."

She bit down on her lip—something she had _never _done for as long as I'd known her—and mumbled. "Stop…"

The rest of the guys chuckled and shook their heads at him, as if they were used to him being an utter creep. I, however, was furious, because I knew what it was like getting harassed, and it pissed me off seeing someone else going through the same thing, and I might have screamed bloody murder at him if Tidus hadn't appeared at that moment.

He stormed up to Seymour and forcefully pulled Yuna away from him. Yuna stumbled on her heels, her eyes widening in shock. "Ti-Tidus—"

"Who the hell are you?" Seymour asked, raising a blue eyebrow. It was weird how many people dyed their eyebrows on the island.

Tidus made a growling noise. "None of your fucking business."

"Actually, it is." He crossed his arms. "I take it upon myself to get to know who my girlfriend's friends are, and she never told me anything about you."

If Tidus was hurt, he didn't show it. "She's not your girlfriend anymore."

"You're not doing her any good by walking up to me and calling me names, you know," Seymour said calmly. "Yuna can speak for herself. She doesn't need an idiot like you pretending to be her knight in shining armor."

Tidus' gaze darkened. "Get the hell out of my sight before I—"

"Hit me?" Seymour didn't seem at all threatened. "Try it."

"With pleasure," Tidus muttered, and he was about to punch him before Yuna stopped him.

"Don't do anything stupid, idiot," Yuna hissed. "You punch him and we're disqualified from the competition."

We watched Seymour and Tidus glare at each other furiously, and then we heard the applause dying down. Seymour was the first to break the stare. "Well…we shall take our leave. We've got a competition to win."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Tidus didn't calm down until the _Maesters_ were halfway into their second song. Yuna had remained silent too, although she stole glances at Tidus every once in a while. Selphie was the one who explained their story to me.

Apparently, Yuna and Seymour had been dating a while back, before I came. Seymour, who went to the Destiny College in the South island, was way too over-possessive and wouldn't let her go anywhere or do anything without her telling him everything. Yuna endured it for over half a year, but she eventually got fed up with it and Seymour and Yuna had a huge fight in the school courtyard, and Seymour eventually dumped her, in front of everyone in school.

"Poor Yuna…" I whispered, watching as Lenne tried to comfort Yuna. I was too far to hear what she was saying.

"Call me crazy, but I think Seymour wasn't just overpossessive," Olette added. "He must have done something really bad to her to make her act like…that around him."

I didn't have time to think about that, because the _Maesters _finished and the audience gave a round of applause. They were really good, and I felt the nervous feeling in my stomach growing again. "Great…they're done."

"Just one more act to go and we're up," Serah muttered, fingering the necklace Snow had given her for her birthday.

The _Maesters _high-fived each other, and Seymour looked at Tidus over his shoulder, giving him a challenging look, as if to say, _Try beating that, mofos_.

Tidus gave him a mocking glare in reply. _With pleasure. _

I practiced the chorus of 'Defying Gravity' out loud to distract myself as the next group took the stage. Honestly, they just got better and better. Lenne was right—I _was _spazzing.

Our turn eventually came, and we had to get in our places. I spotted Tidus whispering something in Yuna's ear, and Yuna nodding and giving him a smile before the lights shut off and we waited for her to announce us.

Thankfully, the first solo went to Serah, because my nervousness hit an all time high when the curtains slid open and I saw the audience. It was, like, twice the size of the last one, and, somewhere in there, Riku and his friends were watching. And so was Sora.

Serah began her song, and it took me all my effort to keep up with the other background singers. I'd actually picked out the song for her, and we'd all practiced it to hell. I didn't want any of them failing because of me. Tidus was pretty damn awesome as well. I mean, he'd gelled his hair and he looked pretty hot in his outfit, and his voice was totally fitting with his appearance as he sang in harmony with Serah. Sure, he wasn't as good as Sora—Sora had, so far, the best voice I'd ever heard, so of course no one could beat that. But I honestly thought Tidus was a good enough singer to deserve the main role in the play…

When she and Tidus finished 'Fix a Heart', we moved onto 'Two is Better Than One', which was sung by Zidane, Hope, Selphie and Olette—but Olette was the main attraction. I felt pretty proud of Olette, since, as she told me, it was her first solo since she began singing in glee club, and I knew a voice like hers had to be recognized. She didn't have any problem performing, which, to be honest, I hadn't expected. She was one of those girls who always hung out in the library and distanced herself from society, so I'd always thought she'd be timid. And, of course, after the whole Roxas ordeal…

The four concluded their ballad, and everyone gave a huge round of applause. The lights dimmed as the lighting crew got ready to blast the lights for the next song. We all stripped down into our other outfits, which took barely seconds, and then went to take our places on stage. Yuna clamped her eyes shut, as if saying a silent prayer. Lenne gave me a thumbs-up, giving encouraging smiles to everyone on the team, since Yuna wasn't in the mood.

And I knew that I couldn't mess up the next song, no matter what. Cause Yuna needed it. And Tidus needed it. And everyone else on the team needed it.

So when the lights came back on and the thumping beat began to play, I gave it my all.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The applause was overwhelming. I had no idea we'd be liked that much. We actually got a _standing ovation_. I was panting like hell, and I was pretty sure my hair was all over the place, but I'd done it. I'd done my best, and all we had left was to pray we pleased the judges.

Tidus and Yuna walked off stage holding hands, which wasn't a surprise, considering the chemistry they'd had on stage. They'd practically been dry-humping each other. Whatever—it pissed the hell out of Seymour, which, I guess, was all that mattered.

Tidus and Yuna avoided Seymour entirely by disappearing into the dressing room.

Lenne decided we'd better give them some alone time, so we headed out to go find 'the guys'.

I was in such a good mood that I ran up to Riku and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a kiss on the lips. He hadn't been expecting me, obviously. "Hey." I stopped him before he could deepen the kiss. "Wait."

"Mmkay." He struggled to subdue his disappointment. He liked kissing way too much, which…should have been flattering. "You were great up there, by the way."

"Thanks," I giggled, waiting for him to realize Yuna and Tidus weren't with us so I could launch into the story.

He stared at me blankly, and then his eyes traveled to my lips.

_Seriously? _I frowned. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Uh…"

I tried not to look annoyed as he stroked my hair. Selphie was going to kill me. "You haven't noticed Yuna and Tidus aren't here?"

"Well of course not. As soon as you walked in here I forgot where I was."

_Ugh. _I tried not to cringe at the cheesy compliment.

"Tidus and Yuna aren't…" He looked around the group for a while…and then it clicked. His lips tilted in a smile. "You don't say…"

"You should've seen the look on Seymour's face when Tidus told him off." I figured he already knew who Seymour was.

"Whoa." He chuckled, tracing circles on my palm. It tickled. "So…Tidus confessed or what?"

"Well…" I shrugged. "Sorta. Seymour tried to flirt with Yuna and Tidus went ballistic."

He raised an eyebrow. "…so how does that qualify as confessing?"

"Because…it was a totally Prince Charming move…" I realized how lame my story was. Okay, so he hadn't really…all he'd done was defended Yuna…but Yuna couldn't be stupid enough not to take a hint…

I shrugged, leaning against his chest. "I dunno."

I heard him laugh. "Right."

I let him kiss me then, because…well. I didn't really have anything else to do. And, okay, it did feel pretty nice.

We actually kissed for most of the intermission—Riku didn't even let me take a bathroom break—up until the announcer took the stage, and I told him we had to leave.

"Good luck."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"Look, guys. No matter what happens out there, we're all winners. We gave it our best out there, and you know it. We were amazing today…and I know that, if we don't win today, we can totally win it next year. Don't let whatever anyone else tells you get you down—you are all amazing people. Serah, Olette, Selphie, Zidane, Hope, Marlene…I'm sorry I didn't think of using you guys sooner."

Yuna giving a speech must have been a rare occurrence, because almost everyone had started to get teary-eyed—except Zidane, who took the opportunity to rub Selphie's back. Hope, who was always a bit of a softie, was sniffing, while Selphie was outright bawling. Marlene, who I frequently forgot existed, was holding Denzel, who I'd also forgotten existed. (Hm. They didn't talk that much. Or maybe they did, but I rarely heard them.)

"And Kairi…" She smiled, a real, genuine smile. I wondered what Tidus had said to make her like this. "…I'm so glad I picked you."

I gave her a smile of my own. "I'm not _that _good—"

"Are you kidding?" Selphie sniffled angrily. "You kicked ass out there!"

"She's right," Zidane added. "That was some hot shit."

I giggled, not sure whether I was flattered or embarrassed. "You can't forget about Yuna and Lenne though—"

"Meh," Lenne cut in. "The judges have heard us every single year since. They needed to hear something new, something that'll blow their minds."

"I agree," Yuna concluded. "And you guys did just that. We're on the top of our game right now—we've never been better, and—"

"GROUP HUG!" Tidus exclaimed, cutting her off. Everyone turned to Yuna for approval.

Yuna shook her head fondly at him, but opened her arms yieldingly. "C'mere, you guys."

And we all hugged, and Selphie cried again, and Serah and Vanille laughed, and Denzel and Marlene squealed, and Zidane groaned, and we all felt closer than ever.

"And now it's time to announce who the judges thought were the best act!"

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We screamed.

Selphie kissed Zidane in elation.

Marlene and Denzel danced.

Vanille, Serah and I jumped up and down squealing like preschoolers.

Tidus and Yuna hugged.

And Lenne gave our victory speech.

"Uh…I uh…we honestly have no idea what to say except…NATIONALS, HERE WE COME!"

And yet…something felt wrong. Something—no, _someone_—was missing.

His face…his smile…

I couldn't find it anywhere in the crowd.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Spring Break approached, and, to be honest, I was pretty relieved. I was totally exhausted with all the school work and cheerleading and glee club and everything, and I totally needed a break from all the chaos.

Riku suggested we go to Ivalice for a week or two during the break, and I told him I didn't think it was a good idea. Hell—I _knew _it wasn't a good idea. Even if I got my Mum to sway, my Dad would never allow it.

He continued pestering me about it at lunch, and I was too distracted to realize what I was ordering. I ordered a cucumber salad—and I hate cucumber. I thought of blaming Riku for my food choice, but I realized it was pretty immature.

So I had to act all Lenne-and-Shuyin-like and play-feed Riku into getting some of his chips, and, thankfully, he caught on. And then I had to kiss him to prevent him from trying to feed me salad.

It was all a bit pathetic.

Tidus and Yuna had gone back to being their normal selves, which, to be honest, was pretty annoying since I'd believed they'd finally get together after all that happened at the Regionals. Riku insisted that I shouldn't try and butt in, though, so I didn't.

I was busy thinking of ways to avoid eating my salad when something caught my eye. It was actually the back of Sora's head. I watched him say something to Penelo, and watched Penelo blush and mumble something back. I felt strangely irritated.

"I'll…I'll be back in a minute." I picked up my tray and walked to their table, plunking my tray next to Penelo. "Hey, guys!" I gave them all a wave, but most of them were obviously surprised that I'd come and talked to them. They all mumbled compliments about how well I did in the Regionals and stuff. "Thanks. Uh…" I cleared my throat, turning to the blonde. "I actually came here for you, Penelo."

"Me?" she gasped.

"Yeah…" I pretended to look busy with my meal as I came up with things to say. "You're so good at rapping…and we need all the help we can get for the Nationals."

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What?"

I grinned, carefully watching Sora for his reaction. His eyes were fixed on Penelo's face. _Ugh_. "How'd you like to join the Songstresses?"

Her face brightened, and she glanced at the others for recognition. "Wh—I'd love to!"

"Great!" I exclaimed, realizing Yuna would probably kill me later for not asking her before recruiting another member…but oh well. We needed new talent, and I needed to check out on Sora, so it was a win-win situation. "Well…meet me today after lunch and we'll talk!"

"Sure!" She waved at me as I stood up from the table, keeping my eyes fixed on Sora's. He immediately averted his gaze and let his eyes fall to Penelo's. I frowned, thinking of asking him where he was during the Regionals, but deciding not to and returning to my table.

Vaan and Penelo were like the Shuyin and Lenne of Sora's table, so…I guessed there was nothing going on with Sora and Penelo after all. Which was reassuring, in a way.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was pretty hard to ignore the circles Riku was tracing on my thigh. Not only was it disturbing, but it also reminded me too much of Seifer, and I never wanted to see Riku in that way, ever.

"Riku…" I hissed under my breath. Ignoring him and pretending to listen to Squall explain the slope of the wavy thing he'd scrawled on the board apparently wasn't working. "Stop that. It's not working."

He didn't seem to like my answer. "Well talking to you isn't working either."

He ignored me and continued, except this time he moved my knee. I struggled to stop myself from giggling. I wished I hadn't told Riku that that my knee was ticklish, because now he wouldn't quit taking advantage of the fact that he knew. "R-Riku—"

"What?" He gave me a fake oblivious stare.

"Ri-ku…" I held back a moan. "We're in class…"

He shrugged, and I blushed when he gave me one of his perverted glances again. He tried to touch me again, but I stopped him this time. "Quit it. I need to concentrate."

He rolled his eyes, leaning on his palm. "Kairi, I know you better than that. You already know all this stuff."

"W-Well…" _Ugh_. "You need to concentrate."

"Kairi." He started twisting a lock of my hair around his index finger. "I'm running on my second junior year. I've done all this crap already."

I decided I only had one last resort. "Riku…sexually harassing me isn't going to help me agree to go with you any more than formally asking me would have." Hell—nothing was going to make me go with him. I was pretty sure Riku knew nothing about home eco, which meant he wouldn't impress my Mum _or _my Dad. And I couldn't exactly lie to my Mum that I was going to be spending the break at Yuna's or something, because my Mum was the kind of person who liked other mums, and it'd be pretty awkward asking Yuna's Mum to lie in my behalf so I could elope with my boyfriend.

And plus…I didn't really _want _to spend my whole vacation in some faraway island with Riku. The idea just didn't appeal to me.

He laughed, and I saw Squall give us a warning glance. He lowered his voice, leaning closer to me. "Sexually harassing you? It's only harassing if you're not enjoying it."

I groaned. "Ugh."

He kissed me on the cheek, like that resolved everything. "I was kidding."

I nodded, getting pretty annoyed with him. I tried to concentrate on the class, and not on Riku…

…or Sora.

I wondered how he was getting along. He was doodling on his textbook, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration. I couldn't really make out what he was drawing, but I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the class. I frowned when I realized he had dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping lately, apparently.

"Hey. Kairi."

I snapped out of my train of thought and turned reluctantly to answer Riku. "Hn?"

"Promise me you'll think about it."

The sad look on his face made me think twice about yelling at him. I forced myself to smile. "I have thought about it, Riku. Just…" The bell rang then, thankfully, and we headed out of class. I brushed by Sora, but it was like he didn't even notice I was there.

Riku walked me to my locker, and then all the way to the Music Room. He'd been doing this every day since. "So…see you later, then?"

I kissed him farewell. "Of course."

His lips drifted to my right ear, and then to my neck, and I stopped him before he could go any further. Much to his annoyance, I wasn't one of those girls who liked PDA.

His irritation was obvious. I felt like rolling my eyes; it wasn't like I wasn't going to be seeing him later. Because I was—Riku was taking me out to the beach, for a picnic. It was touching that he'd actually taken into account the fact that I preferred cheap dates to the way too expensive ones. I'd always felt pretty uncomfortable when Riku spent so much on me. I mean, I still owed him for all the stuff he'd gotten me for Valentine's Day.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Later."

I gave him a brief smile before joining the others in the Music Hall.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Penelo was there, and I felt pretty guilty; I'd totally forgotten about asking her to join. Yuna looked up at me as soon as I entered the room, and her eyes narrowed. "Kairi…Penelo says you asked her to join the glee club."

I shrugged sheepishly. "Yeah…about that…"

"Kairi, contrary to what you might think, you have absolutely no choice in this kind of decision," Yuna muttered, glancing at Penelo disapprovingly. "And we can't just go around picking up random people all the time! We're going with the team we started out with!"

"Why not?" I asked. "Penelo just quit the cheer team, which means she'll have a lot more time to practice. And plus, you let Tidus in."

That seemed to catch Yuna off guard, because she had to avert her gaze. It was hard to ignore the way she was blushing. She was probably feeling pretty relieved that Tidus hadn't arrived yet. "That's different."

"How?" I retorted. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but I was on a roll here. "How, exactly?"

Yuna opened her mouth, and then closed it again. And then she frowned, crossing her arms. "Kairi—I'm the head of this glee club, and I say no."

"Well I say yes." We all looked at Lenne. She shrugged. "Why not? She could be useful. We need all the help we can get, right?"

Yuna gave Lenne a cold glare. Lenne shrugged again. Yuna sighed, turning back to Penelo. "Is there anything you can do apart from Nicki Minaj?"

Penelo blushed. "W-Well…I could do Eminem—"

Yuna groaned. "This is a glee competition. We're not doing rap. It's not ethical."

I frowned. "We've never really gotten to Nationals, so we have no idea what we'll see there. Why don't we try something new?"

"Because—" Yuna suddenly broke out coughing. At first we thought it was just a passing cough, but then it got worse.

Lenne winced. "That sounds bad."

"Shit," Yuna wheezed.

"Yuna…?" I whispered, feeling pretty guilty. "Are you okay…?"

"Of course I'm—" She coughed again, just as Tidus entered the room.

He took one look at Yuna, and his whole face collapsed in worry. "Yuna!" He ran up to her and took her hand, and then he felt her forehead. "Yuna…why didn't you tell anyone you were sick?"

She shook her head, unable to speak through the constant coughing. Tidus sighed. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Wh—at?" Yuna exclaimed through another cough. I wasn't sure if she was blushing or just feverish. "I…I don't need to—"

"Shut up, Yuna," he muttered. "Stop worrying over these guys—they can take care of themselves."

She obeyed, focusing on trying to calm her cough. Lenne picked up Yuna's bookbag and gave us all an apologetic smile. "I'm gonna have to follow her." She gave me a look. "Everyone go home."

And then she left.

Everyone sighed in relief. Zidane, Denzel and Hope announced that they were leaving to play kickball in the gym, since their bus wasn't due to arrive for another hour. Marlene and Selphie went to the bathroom, to redo their makeup. Which left Olette, me, and Serah as the only ones still in the room.

"Well, I guess that's it for today, then," Serah tittered. Her voice sounded like jingle bells. "You know, I'm pretty glad Yuna had that huge coughing fit." She blanched. "W-Well, not really, but, you know…"

I laughed. "Yeah." I smiled, just for the sake of it. It was pretty annoying that everyone tried to act all perfect and nice in front of me, just because I hung out with Yuna and Lenne and Riku and Shuyin and all the other people who pretty much ruled the school. Olette was the only person who actually treated me like I wasn't a divine being, or something. "What're you doing this holiday?"

Serah shrugged her tiny shoulders. "Hmm…Snow was thinking about taking me to Palumpolum. I asked him how he planned to raise munny for that, but all he said was 'Since when did heroes ever need plans?'." She giggled, and I smiled for her. I'd managed to get the inside scoop on her and Snow's relationship from Selphie, who knew everything. Snow and Serah had apparently been dating since Snow was in freshman year—that was impressive. They'd apparently gone on a 'break' for a few months when Snow was in junior year, because, apparently, he'd suspected Serah was cheating on him with the guy called Noel, who's on the Blitzball team. They somehow managed to resolve their differences and regain their trust, and had been dating ever since.

And, believe it or not, they hadn't even had sex yet. Selphie had told me that Snow had been willing to wait until they got married.

"He proposed to her?" I'd asked her, intrigued.

Selphie had said no, not indirectly, but that she'd heard he was planning to ask her at the prom.

I was _so _jealous of them.

Anyway. I liked talking to Serah about her relationship, even though it was pretty depressing considering the fact that hearing about her and Snow just made me feel worse about Riku and I.

Sure, Riku was an amazing guy—sometimes too amazing—and all, but…I just didn't feel as much as I would have liked to when I kissed him. And, yeah, sometimes he could be a pushy, cocky douche—I'd seen that side of him once or twice. Like once when I'd stopped him from touching me…inappropriately. And another time when Hayner had accidentally bumped into him. Riku had a bit of a temper problem, and it scared me.

He'd never done anything to hurt me directly, though. He usually respected my decisions, and, yeah, he was pretty nice to hang out with. And he knew how to be sweet, and caring, and cute…and, sure, there was the whole 'drop-dead gorgeous' thing about him that, yeah, made his company somewhat appealing.

But…

I shook my head. I was overthinking again. Riku and I had only been dating for a month—it was too early for me to know how I really felt about him.

I decided to ask Serah some more questions, so it wouldn't seem like I already knew everything about her relationship. Which I kind of did, but I had a feeling it'd seem rude if she realized that. "So how long have you guys been dating?"

She sighed, as if remembering something nice. "Mmm…since I was in eighth grade, actually. I honestly have no idea how we've lasted so long, since at thirteen I hardly knew what love was." She giggled.

"That's amazing…" I whispered. "So…how did you guys meet?"

"Mm…" She tilted her head. "Our parents have been friends since college, so we were childhood friends. And…you know. The day came when we realized we actually loved each other, and…ever since then we've been…" She smiled softly, leaving me to finish the sentence.

"So…I hate to be the one asking this, but how far have you and Snow gotten?" I felt pretty bad asking it, but I had an hour to spare and I was a sucker for romance.

She blushed. "We haven't really…gotten anywhere. I mean, sure, we kiss and stuff, but…I'm the old fashioned kind of girl who thinks her first time should be on the wedding night in a beach-side, five star hotel on a king-sized bed with flowers petals all over the carpet." She giggled. "I know I probably sound crazy but—"

"No…that's actually…pretty understandable." I felt myself smile. I decided I was going to wait until after marriage, too. Though I knew that with Riku that might not be possible. "And what about Snow?"

"No, he's totally okay with it," she continued. I actually just told him last year, at the prom." She smiled blissfully. "I still remember what he told me that night. He said…'I'll stand by you, no matter what happens. I'm yours forever'."

I was pretty sure that if Selphie was there she would have squealed.

"So he proposed to you?" I asked, holding back a squeal of my own.

She blushed. "N-No…not really. But…he's hinted it once or twice. And, to be honest, if he ever asks me, I already have an answer. I love him, and, yeah, I've dreamed about living with him forever and growing older with him and driving each other to work and…I'm pretty sure it's something I really want. Sure, he can be reckless and spontaneous and sometimes he forgets to think before he does things…but he's also easygoing and optimistic and sweet and, yeah, cheesy, but he makes me smile and I love being with him and I guess that's all that matters."

"You're barely seventeen, and you're already sure you're in love with this guy." I sighed. "How do you know when you're in love with someone?"

She tilted her head in thought. "Honestly…I can't really explain. You just…you just _know_, you know? There's no way to describe it, but when you feel it, you'll just know. That's he's the one you want to be with."

I pondered over this for a second. For some reason, her statement seemed strangely personal.

"You have no idea how jealous I am of you and Snow," I groaned.

She smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Why should _you _be jealous? You've got Riku…"

"Yeah…but…" I sighed.

"I knew it." Olette spoke up for the first time since we'd started the conversation. "You're in love with Sora."

I stared at Olette in shock. "Wh-what?" I couldn't help but laugh at that, though I wasn't sure why it was so funny.

"…you don't?" Olette looked confused. "Really?"

"Yeah…Sora and I, we're just…" It was suddenly hard to keep myself smiling. I wasn't even sure if I could call us friends anymore, since we hardly ever saw each other. I mean, Sora didn't even look at me in the halls anymore, or wait for me by his locker, or wave at me during lunch. It was like I'd done something wrong and he refused to tell me what it was.

Selphie and Marlene returned then, discussing the subject of this week's school newspaper. I was secretly thankful they'd accidentally interrupted our conversation, because I was getting flustered, talking about all this.

"I…I gotta go," I muttered, putting on a fake smile. "I've got a date with Riku in an hour."

"Date?" I heard Selphie gasp. "You have a date and you didn't tell me? Ohmygosh I totally need to—"

"Really need to go," I repeated, giving them all a wave before heading out.

I couldn't stop blushing, and I didn't know why. I couldn't get what Serah had said out of my head.

"_There's no way to describe it, but when you feel it, you'll just know. That's he's the one you want to be with."_

I felt myself blushing again as I began my walk home. I'd have to walk most of the way home, since I had at least half an hour left until the next bus arrived. I knew it was pretty stupid of me to leave so early, but it was getting way too uncomfortable talking with them about…love and all that stuff.

I managed to get home with just enough time to get ready for our picnic date. I was pretty excited for this date because Riku and I hadn't really had any hanging-out-by-the-shore dates yet, and, yeah, after everything Olette and Serah had said…

I decided to make lunch first, to keep myself from thinking. I made some sandwiches, packed some apples and juice boxes, and then threw in the last box of cinnamon rolls I had left. I'd actually planned on keeping them for Sora, because I'd heard him say he liked cinnamon once.

I stopped myself and decided to get dressed. I took a shower and wore my yellow sundress that showed little to no cleavage, and tied my hair in a ponytail, deciding not to do anything stylish. It'd been ages since I'd just gone natural, especially since most of the time the girls planned what I was going to be wearing to each and every date.

I decided to get going to the beach and wait for Riku there. I texted him saying I'd meet him at the beach, and then I took a walk. It was breezy out, but warm, so I didn't really need to take a coat.

I sat down next to the shore, crossed my legs, and waited.

* * *

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

At first I thought maybe I'd come too early. And then I realized he was almost a quarter of an hour late. And then half an hour. And then a full hour.

I went through all the sandwiches and about half the snacks before I realized he wasn't going to come.

And then horrible thoughts started to run through my head, about why Riku would stand me up. Did he finally get fed up with me not wanting to…put out? I mean, I remembered overhearing a few girls talking about how guys had their needs and everything…but that couldn't be it. Was Riku tired of me? Did he meet a better girl? Did he find me too boring, too uninteresting, too much of a prude for him, or—or—

And then I realized how much I was crying, and that maybe I did like Riku. A feeling of dejection started to take over, and I suddenly wished I hadn't eaten all those sandwiches.

After crying miserably for a while, I decided it was stupid and pointless to waste my evening crying on the beach because a guy had dumped me. And I wasn't sure he dumped me, even. Maybe I was just overreacting…?

I was just about to open the door to my house when my phone rang.

I didn't pick it up when I saw the caller. I still wasn't ready to speak to him. I wasn't sure what I was going to say to him if I ever did pick up. What was he calling me for, anyway? To make up some lame excuse for standing me up? Or to dump me altogether?

I hadn't really had that much experience with guys…so I really had no idea what to do.

I decided to let it ring. It eventually stopped, and I let out a sigh of relief. But then it started again, and it was getting hard to ignore the vibrating in my pocket.

I was just about to switch my phone off altogether when I heard Riku's voice.

"U-Um…hey, uh…it's…it's Riku." I froze when I heard how off his voice was_. What…? _"I…I really need to—Kairi, just pick up the phone, okay? Just…just call me back…_please_."

It was the 'please'that got me. His voice was desperate and unsteady, like he was trying not to cry. And I wanted to punch myself for not realizing that Riku probably didn't show up because something bad had happened to him.

I immediately called him back, suddenly not caring if he actually was going to dump me. I just needed to know he was okay.

He picked it up after the first ring, but I didn't wait for him to speak. "Riku…what's wrong?"

He was quiet for a bit. "I…" He croaked. "Can you come over…please?"

It scared me, the way he kept saying please, and I was about to ask him a whole lot of other questions when I realized it'd be better if I saw him in person.

"Where is 'over'?" I asked. "I don't really know your address."

"Um…there's this apartment complex downtown called Timeless River…I'm in…room 130…on the second floor of Apartment F."

I wrote all this down and told him I'd be there in a sec before hanging up the phone and heading out.

* * *

After a half-hour bus ride, I arrived at _Timeless River_.

The sun had started to set and the sky had turned a grayish blue, making the apartment complex look as ominous as hell. The buildings looked droopy, and some of them weren't even finished. The paint was peeling, graffiti decorated the bricked walls, and there was at least one smashed window per building.

Timeless River looked like crap.

I wondered how Riku managed to live here.

"I'm getting off here," I muttered, trying not to let my fear show. The bus driver looked at me uncertainly, but I swallowed and thanked him for the ride.

I climbed off the bus and waited for him to leave before taking a deep breath and heading into the apartment complex. There was a front office, in a tiny, run-down cabin, and there was a man with cropped reddish-brown hair and glasses sitting at the front desk. He looked up from his magazine when he saw me, and gave me a once-over.  
"May I help you?"

"I'm…I'm looking for Apartment F." I paused.

"Apartment F, huh?" He pushed his glasses further up his nose and frowned. "A girl like you doesn't belong in a place like this."

I wasn't sure how to take that. "There's…there's someone I need to see."

"Hmm." He shook his head and sighed. "Apartment F is that way…if anyone gives you trouble, just tell them Kazusa sent you."

I nodded, and headed in the direction he'd pointed. As I headed deeper into the compound, I started to get more and more worried. I tried not to focus on the way the roofs leaked and the corridors smelt like puke, and how the stairs were rusted and the number of smokers I'd passed on the way up. I closed my eyes and tried to get my thoughts straight. And I worried how Riku was doing, and what was wrong with him, and why he needed me so desperately.

I got to room 130, and knocked on his door, ignoring the sound of a couple making out in the room next to him. I heard a loud moan and wondered how Riku managed to live next to…whoever was in that room.

And then Riku opened the door.

I stifled a gasp. "Riku…"

His face…it was like he'd been in some kind of bad fight, or something. His lip was busted and looked like it had been bleeding once, and his left cheek was swollen red. There was a horrible cut underneath his right eye, and his silver hair was held in a messy ponytail, silver bangs not helping at all to hide the state of his face.

He attempted to smile. "Hey, Kairi."

He tried to kiss me, but, naturally, I declined. I didn't get what the hell was wrong with him. His face was in a total mess and he wanted to _kiss _me. I ran my fingers over his lips and felt his cheeks, trying to figure out how much damage had been done. "You…" And then a horrible smell caught my attention—the sour smell of vomit. "…were you sick?"

He nodded hesitantly, and I dropped my hands from his face in exhaustion. I didn't even know where to start. "…you could say it like that."

He stepped to the side and let me in, and I took in the apartment, from the dust on the floorboards, to the tiny kitchen, to the…well. There wasn't really anything else to look at. There were a few cardboard boxes stacked next to the window, which had yellowy-brown curtains—with frills. My mum would have probably gone berserk if she saw them.

I pretended to like it. "Wow…is this your apartment?"

"Guess it is for now," he muttered, raking his fingers through his hair. I realized, from the way he was standing, that he was probably hurt elsewhere as well. He was still wearing his school button-up polo, and it was spotted with blood. He turned around and headed into his bedroom, and I followed him.

His room wasn't any better. There wasn't really a bed—there was just a large mattress that didn't look new. It looked like it had once been white.

I sat down next to him as I took in whatever I could. I could hear the couple making out next door. Riku was obviously too lost in his thoughts to notice. I wondered how long he'd been living here, and then I spotted the half-opened suitcase and bookbag leaning against the wall.

And a horrible thought hit me.

I turned to Riku. "Riku…what happened?"

"I…" He took my hand, and I realized how tired he looked. "I…my Dad hit me…"

I stared at him, trying to register what he'd just told me. "What?"

"Actually…actually he's been hitting me for a while now…but I just never told anyone." He swallowed, which apparently hurt, seeing as he let out a wince. I opened my mouth to ask him a whole bunch of questions, but he continued before I could formulate any. "My dad…he's Sephiroth. Yeah…the Drama teacher."

He went on to tell me about how his mother had died giving birth to her, and since then his Dad had physically abused his older brothers, who therefore abused him—only verbally. When they left home, Riku was left with his Dad, who eventually moved on to hitting _him_.

And then he told me how his brothers ended up hanging out with the wrong crowd and became 'street junkies', as he put it, and…and how sometimes they forced him to help them…and why he'd felt uncomfortable at Shuyin's birthday because he'd been sent to give heroin to the guy who overdosed…and how he couldn't bring anyone to home because he felt it wasn't safe…and how he was sorry—so, so sorry—for having to lie me, and to all of us…

…and by then I was holding back sobs.

"Yeah…" Riku chuckled bitterly. "That's my fucked up life in a nutshell."

"Oh my gosh, Riku…" I sniffed, and he turned to look at me. "Why haven't you told anyone any of this?"

"I…" He turned away then, leaning his head in his palms. "I'm scared, Kairi."

I didn't really know what to say then. My eyes burned again, and I felt my throat clogging up. It was too much to take in, and I suddenly felt guilty for all the little things I did to him.

I looked at Riku, and suddenly I didn't see the intimidating, flawless, fearless guy I knew anymore. I saw a scared, lost and lonely child…and it scared me.

I stroked his battered face again, feeling angry at Sephiroth for doing all this to him. I couldn't believe it. Sephiroth was Riku's Dad…any idiot could have noticed that. I suddenly understood why Riku never looked Sephiroth directly in the eye anymore, and where he'd gotten the horrible bruise in his arm from…

"Well, d-don't be!" I looked him straight in the eye. "Stop keeping all your problems to yourself! You've got to trust other people with stuff like this! I'm…I really care about you, Riku! And so does Sora!" My voice quivered embarrassingly at that—I was pretty sure I was full frontal crying by now. "Sora and I will always be here for you, no matter what!"

All he did was stare at me, while I blubbered pathetically, and then he caught me by surprise by kissing me.

Hard.

It was almost scary, the way he crunched his lips against mine, as if he was scared I was going to disappear in any second. I ignored the faint taste of vomit and blood and focused on kissing him back, but it was pretty hard to keep up. I could barely breathe, but I let him kiss me for a bit longer before I had to pull away. "Kairi…" I could feel his hitched breathing; his lips lingered by my ear. It was irritatingly arousing… "…I love you."

_No. NO._

The silence that followed was painful. I had no answer.

So, stupidly, I replied: "I know."

He didn't say anything. He just cried.

And it hurt me so much, to see him broken down like that, that I began to cry, as well.

* * *

**Yeah…that was…angsty…**

**Well. Next chappie's fluff galore. Sorry, couldn't fit in the…thing… (Some people might not have read Addicted yet, so I'm not giving out spoilers!). **

**Anyway…watch out for THAT in the next chappie…hurrhurr…**

**So…did you like the fluff? Did you like the inner banter? Did you like the angst? Give your opinion in a review! **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_I'm…I'm just trying to help…"_

"_She's got bronchitis."_

"_I can't…I can't do this to him…"_

"_Until I met you."_

* * *

… ***manical laughter* How I love making you guys wait. I'm, like, the evil queen of suspense or something. Wait…no…I'm already the Angst Princess…**

**I am angsting over the fact that, as I post this, I have a midterm exam in one hour. I spent the whole weekend writing the next Apologize chappie and watching Pretty Little Liars (AWESOME SERIES BTW, A MUST WATCH), so...I'm pretty much screwed.**

**Don't kill me if there're mistakes all over the place...I really need to go review the cell cycle... **

**Ahem. Anyways. Off you go. Shoo. Go review. **

**XXXX **


	26. I Caught Myself

**A/N: …yeaaah. **

**Review replies? **

**Superpeanutbutter: Yeah…sad, huh? Poor Riku…and, yeah, you may be right. (Hurrdurr). Lol…I don't know why; whenever I don't update at least once a week, I feel stressed out and irritated until I manage to post a chappie. That's just how I am. :P **

**Isabelz3Cookies: TAYLOR FOR THU WIN! And Sora shall return…soon. As for the blood and vomit...yeah. Riku's mouth kind of tasted like that…poor Kairi for having to taste that… xD Enjoy! **

**Morgead'sgirl: You should login next time, you lazy bum. xD Anywho…Kairi sang Pretty Girl Rock, like you guessed. :D And Yuna's kind of oblivious to the whole thing…she's one of those girls that take forever to accept someone likes them cause they're too scared to ruin what they have blah blah blah…honestly, she's one of the most annoying characters to write about lmao. And yeah…I tried to make it so that you'd feel sorry for Riku…cause he was such a douche at the beginning and…yeah. He's kind of clingy cause he's never really experienced really liking someone the way he likes Kairi before…but, yeah, he does come off pretty clingy. Lol…I can't wait to write about all that. *squeals* Anyway…yeah, I love the Fray. Their music is so relatable…along with The Script. God. I love them Irish bands. Lol…I don't mind Katy Perry, but Taylor will always be on top for me. *fangirl grin* Well, enjoy! **

**Today's Question: **_**Celebrity crush?**_

**Wow…that's actually a hard one. I have several, but I'd have to say that at the moment my main celebrity crushes are Logan Lerman and Drew Van Acker. Logan Lerman is, like, nerdy cute, and Drew Van Acker is serious eye candy cute. Especially on Pretty Little Liars. Which returns on the second of January. WOOT. **

**About this chappie: …expect some more drama. Cause that's how we roll. ****Hurr. **

**Disclaimer: Non mais serieux je commence à en avoir marre là…I Caught Myself belongs to Paramore, got it memorized? **

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_We win the Regionals. _

"NATIONALS, HERE WE COME!"

_Tidus confesses._

"Sorta. Seymour tried to flirt with Yuna and Tidus went ballistic."

_And I find out Riku's shocking secret. _

"…my Dad hit me…he's been hitting me for a while now…but I just never told anyone."

_And I struggle to figure out who I'm really in love with._

* * *

**Chapter 26: I Caught Myself**

I sang him to sleep.

It had always helped me, so I figured it'd help him, and it did. I don't know how long I sat there, stroking his hair, whispering that it was going to be okay, and crying.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. I was angry—at his Dad for hitting him, and at myself for not being able to say I loved him back. I didn't get why I couldn't say it. Just three simple words.

My phone buzzed—Mom was calling. I made up a lie about staying over at Yuna's, and she believed me. I hung up, and realized how lonely the apartment must have been. The only sounds I could hear were Riku's breathing, the ticking of my watch and the dripping tap. The dust was suffocating. I bristled once again, hating Sephiroth for making Riku live in a place like this.

I still couldn't get over the fact that he'd been keeping all these secrets from everyone, and everyone had been left ignorant of it all. It was painful how he made everyone think he was a giant douche when he was actually just a scared little kid on the inside…

I looked back down at his bruised face and almost burst into tears again. I bit down on my lip to hold back the tears and inhaled deeply. I suddenly felt guilty for all the little things I did to him, like reject him when he wanted to kiss me, or call him a pervert when he volunteered to sleep over…

I shook my head to stop myself thinking again, and decided I'd better help Riku get cleaned up. I managed to lug him over to his mattress and then tried to take off his stained school polo. I gingerly peeled it off him, trying not to irritate any of his bruises. I barely stifled a gasp when I saw the huge red bruises on his sides.

I just sat there, feeling pathetic, and miserable and scared. Part of me wanted to run out of the apartment and tell everyone everything he'd told me, to rat out Sephiroth to the police, to do _something_, just so I'd never have to see Riku _cry _again.

I eventually came to my senses again and continued, soaking his shirt with warm water and dabbing at his face. I rummaged through Riku's backpack and found some disinfectant, and used it to clean up his bruises and cuts. I found some balm in my bookbag from back when I'd had a swollen ankle, and figured it would work on his face too. He squirmed once or twice, but otherwise he remained docile. I couldn't help but giggle fondly when he yawned and turned over onto his stomach, obviously deep in sleep. I decided to leave him alone and let him have some rest.

I was determined to keep myself busy, so I headed to the kitchen. He'd apparently thrown up all over the sink, so I set to work cleaning it up. I scrubbed and swabbed until my arms ached and I was sweaty all over, but I was happy how the apartment turned out when I was done. It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot cleaner than it had been when I'd arrived. By the time I was done, it was pitch black out, and I knew going out to by dinner was out of the question. I wasn't that hungry anyway, since I'd eaten pretty much everything in the picnic basket when I'd assumed Riku had stood me up.

I yawned, fatigued, and stretched my arms. I felt myself blushing when I realized that there was only one bed in the apartment—and that was Riku's.

I was too tired to care, and slipped into bed next to Riku.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I woke up two hours earlier than usual, just so I could rush home, get dressed and cook Riku's breakfast before rushing back to his apartment. I'd managed to come up with lame excuses that my Mum fell for, mostly because I included Sora in all of them. Mum liked Sora so much; sometimes it was as if she believed he was her own son.

I'd hoped he'd be ready by the time I got back so we could get going for school. I'd had some time to think it over, and I'd decided Riku staying at home was out of the question for two reasons: 1) I'd be left to explain to everyone why he wasn't at school, and I sucked at lying to anyone else apart from my Mum, and 2) I'd spend my whole day worrying over him and wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything.

I rapped on Riku's door impatiently, feeling paranoid in the rusty corridors of Apartment F. Thankfully he didn't make me wait there for long. The door opened and I was once again staring up into the opalescent cyan eyes of my boyfriend.

He was still shirtless, and his silver hair fell shaggily by his shoulders. He looked like he'd just woken up, and he looked at me as if the night before had never happened.

"I…I brought you breakfast." I showed him the lunch cooler I'd brought. I'd had to lie that we had a bake sale in school for her to let me out easy. I sighed. "You're not ready for school yet?"

He rubbed his eyes and stepped to the side to let me in. "Mm. I wasn't…really planning on going to school today."

_Crap_. "You have to go to school…it'll be weird if you don't show up."

He snorted, like I'd just said something ridiculous. "Kairi—have you _seen _my face?"

I shrugged. It wasn't as bad as it had been the previous day. "Yeah…but I was thinking maybe I could use some makeup or something." I unpacked the Tupperware box of pancakes onto the counter. "And you could lie about what really happened, like you always do."

I heard him chuckle. "Like I always do?"

"What—you think I don't know when you're lying?" He shrugged, and I waited until I'd turned on the microwave before continuing. "C'mon, Riku. You're going to school."

He groaned childishly. "Come on, Kairi. I can't. I look like I've been mauled by a cat, my sides hurt, and I'm just gonna end up making you late." He sighed. "Face it—I'm better off staying here where no one can find me."

I hesitated before walking up to him. I cupped his face with my hands gingerly. "Look…Riku…" I stroked the bruise underneath his eye, which had started to heal, but apparently still stung. He gritted his teeth together to hold back a wince. "I…I know…Sephiroth is going to be there today and all." I lowered my voice. "But you not turning up isn't going to help anything." I pushed his bangs out of his eyes. "It might even make it worse. You said your Dad was out when you ran away, right?"

He averted his gaze, looking uncomfortable.

"He needs to know you're alive, then," I concluded determinedly. "Or else he'll probably send out a search party or something, thinking you've gotten kidnapped…"

My words died down at the look he gave me. He looked beyond pissed, and it was obvious he didn't believe me at all. "Yeah. Right. The bastard doesn't give a fuck whether I'm alive or dead." He shook his head. "He's always wanted me dead, anyway, ever since the day I was born."

I'd managed to convince myself that there had to be another side to the story. That Riku's Dad didn't hate him. It just didn't add up—all the things he'd told me, about how he'd spoilt Riku during childhood, how he'd treated him like a prince while his older brothers had to suffer…there must have been a reason for that.

I shook my head firmly, feeling tears coming on again. "Riku—"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to talk about this."

He looked like he meant it, glaring down at me unwaveringly. I eventually decided to give up, fed up with his stubbornness. "Right. We…won't talk about it. Fine."

"Kairi…" He held me by the wrist before I could pull away. "…don't…" He paused. "…are you mad at me?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "No…Riku…I'm not _mad _at you…" I sighed. "I know this is a hard subject for you, but I'm…I'm just trying to help…"

He pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on the top of my head. "Fine. I'll go…but I'm taking you out dancing this evening."

I pulled away slightly so I could look up at him to see if he was serious or not. "What?"

He smirked. "You heard me."

_Did he just say he's taking me out _dancing_? Dancing where? Why? _I was about to ask him all these questions and more, but then I realized there really wasn't any point, and decided to just go with it. "Fine."

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss me. I wasn't prepared and tried to pull away, but Riku was too into the kiss to realize. I eventually found myself kissing back, and it was getting pretty intense when the microwave beeped, interrupting us.

It gave me a valid excuse to pull away. "Come on, Riku. We've got school in less than half an hour."

He sighed, upset. "You always do that."

"Do what?"

"You know. Cut me off all the time."

I decided to feign obliviousness. "I don't know what you're talking about." I sprinkled the pancakes with sugar and handed him the plate. "Eat up. I'll go get your clothes."

I left him to eat, going through his suitcase for his uniform. I sighed when I realized how little he'd packed with him. He had barely enough clothes to last him a week.

I heard Riku moan in pleasure. "Man…it's been ages since I had one of these…"

"I knew you'd like them," I giggled in reply.

When I got back to the kitchen, Riku was trying to scrape every last crumb of pancakes from his plate. He gave me a pleading look, as if asking for more. I laughed. "Come on, Riku. _School_."

He groaned. "Guess it's decided, then."

He left to have a shower while I cleaned up, and came out fifteen minutes later. His hair wasn't as perfect as usual, but I was manageable.

"I'm done." He walked up to me, glancing at his watch. "Oops, we're gonna be late. It's probably better if we stay at home."

I glared at him. "Don't be stupid. We're going whether you like it or not."

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss me, but I quickly shrunk away, pretending to be busy adjusting his collar instead. I didn't know why kissing him was making me increasingly uneasy.

I kept my gaze trained on his tie, too afraid to look him in the eye. I heard him chuckle. "I swear, Kairi, you're gonna be an amazing Mom."

I felt like my face was on fire. The sound of my watch beeping broke the awkward silence for us. "Crap. We gotta go."

He moaned in annoyance as I dragged him out of the apartment.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We got to school a whole ten minutes late, missing homeroom and barely making it on time to first period. I'd managed to conceal most of Riku's cuts without making the fact that he was wearing make-up that obvious, and Riku fluidly conjured up a story about falling off his bike, and they all bought it.

Well, at least we thought they bought it. Ever since that afternoon in Starbucks when we'd discovered that Riku lied to pretty much everyone in school about being experienced, they'd all started to doubt everything he'd told them. And I wasn't surprised.

The temptation to tell everyone about what really happened was overwhelming, and I found myself almost blurting out his secret numerous times. But then I'd remember Riku's face, and how scared he'd been when he confessed to me…

It was even more awkward in Drama. It was like no one else but me could see the tension between Riku and Sephiroth. Riku was going out of his way to avoid having to speak to him or look him in the eye.

I couldn't take Sephiroth seriously anymore. I'd purposely make mistakes just to piss him off, and I'd glare at him whenever he looked at me. I didn't think I'd ever be able to look at him the same way. I was starting to doubt my decision to make Riku come to school.

I was more than relieved when the bell rang signaling lunch, but my relief disappeared when I heard Sephiroth announce that he needed Riku to stay back after class.

I was immediately wary. "Riku…?"

Riku visibly hesitated, but no one else but me seemed to notice. "I'll…I'll catch up with you guys later."

I still didn't trust him alone with Sephiroth. "Are you sure?"

He shrugged, giving me a half-hearted smile. "C'mon. I'll be fine."

It was obvious he was just trying to put on a brave face, but he still looked pretty serious, and I knew there was no way I was going to make him change his mind. "Right. Um…see you at lunch."

I left him there, against my own judgment, praying nothing went wrong.

* * *

I was so preoccupied with watching over Riku that I didn't notice Yuna wasn't there until Sports came along and I didn't have a partner in tennis doubles.

I wasn't exactly a whiz at tennis—I was more of a volleyball and kickball type—and Yuna was usually the one who saved my ass, so Yuna's absence was pretty upsetting. Plus, passing tennis counted for about half my semester grade, so losing wasn't an option.

I just hoped whoever I got paired with someone who was good—or at least a lot better than me.

I told Miss Brea, our Sports teacher who had boobs almost as big as Matsumoto's—(yeah, I was a Bleach fan)—that Yuna was absent, and she frowned, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Skipping class, huh?"

I shrugged, and she sighed. "Right…um." She looked around the room. "Is there anyone who doesn't have a partner?"

No one raised their hand, and Miss Brea was obviously peeved. "Well isn't that nice?" She sighed and turned to me. "Well…I guess that means you'll—"

She was cut off by the sound of Selphie squealing.

We both turned to see her and realized that she was lugging a small blonde girl along—Namine. She was holding a half-empty bottle of lemonade in her hand, and I figured she'd just finished lunch, or something.

"Naomi here doesn't have a partner!" Selphie looked like she was about to ruffle her hair, but decided against it. "She can be Kairi's partner!"

I saw the other girls watching the scene and felt like rolling my eyes. It was obvious she was offering to pair Namine up with me just so no one else would have to. The news about Namine being my sister had spread like wildfire and now everyone knew we were related.

Namine was evidently pissed, and I realized she hadn't been doing sports with us ever since the beginning of the year.

Namine nervously fiddled with the cap of her lemonade as Selphie skipped away. "It's…Namine, actually."

Miss Brea nodded, slowly. "Hmm." She picked up the register. "You're the girl who'd been excused for three months due to a knee injury, right?"

She blushed. "Um—"

"And then another month due to a subsequent arm injury, and then a migraine—"

"Y-Yeah." Namine cleared her throat. "I, uh…had some accidents."

Miss Brea crossed her arms. "And it doesn't seem weird to you that these 'accidents' took place conveniently one after the other?"

Namine remained silent, looking down at her sneakers. "Um…"

Miss Brea sighed. "We'll take care of this after class. Get dressed—we're playing tennis doubles and you're with Kairi."

* * *

I followed Namine to the dressing room, for lack of anything else to do. Namine wouldn't quit chewing on her sweater sleeve—an old habit—but I was too afraid to tell her to stop. We _still _weren't on speaking terms, even if I'd thought the whole Seifer thing had blown over.

I hated not being able to talk to Namine though. We'd always been like best friends back when she used to come visit every summer, back when we'd Skype every weekend, back before we started high school and everything got awkward.

Back before we could talk about pretty much anything and weren't holding back secrets from each other.

I waited patiently as Namine changed, busying myself with my knee-high socks and tying and untying my shoelaces until she was done. If she wasn't still mad at me then I might have laughed at how odd she looked in the oversized white tennis shirt and shorts.

She must have seen the look in my eyes, because she frowned. "I know this look isn't working for me, you don't have to make it so obvious."

I tried to smile. "I didn't say that."

Namine rolled her eyes and tied her hair into a ponytail. She looked a lot less scruffy when all her hair wasn't in her face. "Let's just get this over with."

"Hey…" I sighed. "Namine…how did you manage to get off the hook for skipping class for more than seventy-five percent of this year?"

"I…" She groaned, brushing past me. "I don't feel like talking about this—"

"Since when have you felt about talking about anything?"

She stopped in her tracks, as if thinking over what I'd just said. Then she nodded slowly to herself before storming back into the field.

* * *

Namine was surprisingly good at tennis. I wasn't sure if it was because she was mad or if she was just really talented. I didn't get why she found the need to skip class so much when she was actually really good at something. She surprised everyone with her skills, even Miss Brea, not uttering a word the whole time.

By the time the bell rang, Namine had beaten almost everyone, and she hadn't even broken a sweat. The girls could only watch, awestruck, as Namine picked up her stuff and stormed into the locker rooms.

"Whoa…" Rikku crossed her arms. "Well that was…weird. I didn't know your sister could play tennis."

Lenne snorted. "I didn't know she could do anything, actually."

I quickly changed the subject as we walked back to the showers. "Heard anything from Yuna?"

"Um…not yet." She wiped at her forehead with her clean D&G pink face towel. "Tidus made me leave him and Yuna alone yesterday. Said he didn't need me to come along."

"And you listened to him?" I peeled off my shirt before taking a drag on my water bottle. It was crazy how thirsty I was when I hadn't even done anything except stand in the field and watch Namine destroy the opposing teams.

Lenne shrugged, spraying deodorant under her arms. "Yeah. I mean, I'm her best friend and all, but if it'll help Yuna open her eyes faster and see he's The One…then I'm totally fine with it."

I nodded, deciding to stick with her decision. Lenne knew Yuna better than I did, after all.

I was blow-drying my hair when the thoughts of Riku came flooding back. And the way he'd kissed me, like he was afraid I was going to slip out of his reach any second.

"Hey, Lenne…how do you know when you're in love with someone?"

Lenne didn't seem at all caught off-guard by the question. She obviously didn't think it was that much of a big deal. She puckered her lips as she checked out her reflection in her pocket mirror. "I dunno. You'll just know."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Yeah. Like that's gonna help."

"Help what?" Rikku arched a golden eyebrow at me. "What—you're having doubts already?"

"No…" I averted my gaze and tried to busy myself with brushing my hair. "Just a random thought."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really." I picked up my sports bag and hurriedly exited the changing rooms. I had a feeling that if I stayed there any longer I'd end up blurting out everything…and I sure as hell didn't want that to happen.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"So…what kind of dancing is it? I…I just want to know how I should dress…"

I tried to act as excited as I possibly could for our date that evening. As much as I disagreed with Riku spending what little munny he had left on _me_, I couldn't bring myself to tell him that. I had a feeling he needed to forget about everything that had happened the previous day, at least just for one night.

"It's formal," he explained, seeming strangely tense, even though he was trying to put on a brave face.

I squeezed his hand when we arrived at the Music Room. I thought of leaving him then, but then decided to give him a kiss. I looked him straight in the eyes, before whispering: "Stay safe."

And I meant it.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Everyone was there, once again. Except Yuna, of course.

I sat down next to Olette. "Yuna still hasn't showed up, huh?"

"Of course she hasn't; she's at the hospital." Lenne sighed. "We just have to wait til Tidus arrives so we can find out why."

So we waited. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes. Lenne was about to lose it and go track Tidus down when he finally arrived.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I just had some…uh." He cleared his throat when he saw Lenne's glare.

"Where is Yuna?" Lenne demanded.

"She's at the hospital, you know that—"

"I know, but why?"

"Because…" Tidus sighed. "She's got bronchitis."

"What?" Lenne gasped, horrorstruck. "Oh my god…"

"Yeah…she was coughing a lot after the Regionals, but…" He scratched his cheek. "She insisted it was nothing, and I just thought it'd pass…"

"This is bad…" Lenne bit on her lip. "If she can't sing…"

I tried to act positive. "It's no big deal. She'll be okay by the end of Spring Break, right?"

Tidus gave me a weird look. "Right." He paused before approaching me. "Hey, um…do you think Riku's been acting weird lately?"

I pressed my lips together, willing myself not to say anything. "No." I pretended to look at my watch, and hoped he didn't realize I wasn't wearing one. "Um, I've really gotta go now…tell Yuna I said hi!"

I picked up my bookbag and sprinted outside, just in time to catch an early bus.

* * *

I was freaking out the whole bus ride home. How much did Tidus know? Did Riku know Tidus knew? Was Tidus going to tell anyone what he knew? What would happen then?

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I almost didn't realize I'd arrived at home.

I unlocked the door and dropped off my stuff in the living room, realizing that I was home alone again until Mum came back. I'd actually been thinking about letting her and Dad know about Riku and I, since we'd been together for a month now and…well. I was getting tired of making up lies to explain where I'd been whenever we went out on a date.

I sighed and decided to write a note and stick it on the kitchen fridge, telling them I was going out on a date, and face the consequences later.

I looked at the time and realized that I had at least an hour and a half left until Riku would come pick me up. I was about to decide to go and get dressed—by myself, since I hadn't let anyone else know about our date—when I realized Sora was probably home.

I knew that if I didn't go speak to him now, I probably wouldn't be able to for a really long time, especially with my now hectic schedule and, well, _Riku_, who I was sure was going to hog all my free time once the holidays came around.

I changed into a more comfortable set of clothes before heading next door to Sora's. After ringing on the bell twice and getting no answer, I decided to let myself in, like I usually did, figuring he was either taking a nap or in his garden. Aerith wasn't in, like usual, and neither was Roxas, which I realized when I checked his bedroom and found no one there, so I decided to check out his garden.

He was there, bent over what seemed to be a notebook, scribbling away. His hair fell in front of his eyes as he wrote, like a curtain. I looked around, taking in the flowers my Mum had helped Aerith grow. There weren't as many flowers as in my garden, but there were still quite a lot. At least there would be, when they finished growing, at least by the end of the summer.

I thought of just staying there, watching him, since he fit so perfectly into his surroundings. I even thought of taking a picture…but remembered I didn't take my phone with me.

I approached him as silently as I possibly could before letting him know I was there. "Hey."

He was obviously surprised I was there, so surprised that he ripped right through his sheet of paper. He blushed in embarrassment when he realized it was just me. "K-Kairi…when did you get here?"

"Just now." I took a seat next to him on the grass, as he crumpled the sheet of paper. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing," he muttered.

It was obvious he was lying. "I'm not taking that for an answer." He didn't reply, and I was about to put on the pleading face—since that always seemed to work with him—when a movement in the bushes caught my attention. "What's that?"

It was a rodent. A tiny, brownish rodent with a huge bushy tail and huge brown eyes. It was staring at us, like it wasn't sure whether to run or to stay put until I forgot it was there.

Sora didn't seem at all fazed by its presence. "Oh…that's my pet squirrel."

I was too shocked to care that he hadn't told me this earlier. "I…I never knew you had a pet…"

He shrugged. "Well, I've had Rodent for a month now."

At first I thought it was just a slip of tongue, but then I realized. "Rodent? That's seriously his name?"

He shrugged, absently drumming his pencil on his notebook.

I had to laugh at his nonchalant expression. "I honestly thought you were more creative than that."

He rolled his eyes. "He's a squirrel."

"So?" Rodent was nibbling on an acorn, like the typical cartoon squirrel. I had to resist the urge to coo at it.

"C'mere, boy," I whispered, crawling closer to Rodent. "I won't bite."

Rodent obviously didn't believe me, cause he disappeared up a tree. "I don't think squirrels speak English."

He was obviously making fun of me, and it pissed me off. "Well, how do you get him to listen to you, then?"

He smirked, shuffling closer to me and lowering his voice. "You have to be quiet…"

So we sat next to each other, as quietly as we could, waiting for Rodent to reappear. It was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat…along with Sora's. He was sitting so close to me I could practically feel the warmth radiating from his skin.

We waited and waited, and my mind started to wander again. From what we were going to do without Yuna, to what I was going to wear on my date, to why Namine had been skipping class, to how we'd soon be on break and how Riku wanted me to go with him to Ivalice…and if I wanted to go.

And then Rodent reappeared, crawling out from behind a bush. I watched in awe as it hesitantly scurried up to Sora and clambered up his arm.

And, suddenly, I got the name. "Pascal."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Pascal. That's a much better name for the…rodent."

"Squirrel."

"Same difference."

He chuckled, and then he motioned for me to hold out my palms. Hesitantly, I did. I watched as Pascal crawled around in his hair while he sprinkled bits of squirrel food in my hands. Pascal seemed to like that, because it didn't take him long before he scurried into my grasp.

I wasn't usually a girly girl, but I had my moments. This was one of those moments. It was impossible not to squeal like a little kid on Christmas morning. He seemed to like me, actually, and I let him play in my hair until it got bored and scurried back down my arm.

I sighed. "He's so cute."

Sora nodded in agreement, still remaining silent. I held back a frown, trying to break the awkward silence. "Um…how long did you say you've had him?"

"A month," he sighed. "Found him tangled up and freed him. He was a little injured at first, but he's gotten better." His lips tilted in a smile. "He's good enough to leave whenever he wants to, but…"

"He likes you," I finished, still whispering for some reason. "Not surprising, really. You're really likeable."

He looked at me then, and I felt my face growing warm. We just sat there, staring at each other, the unspoken words hanging in the silence. It had been barely weeks since we last talked to each other the way we used to, and yet it felt like years.

I broke away from his intense gaze, nervously fingering one of the daffodils. "Daffodil…"

"You never did tell me what it meant, you know."

He was smiling, but there was something off about it. The pregnant silence returned, and it was like we were waiting for Pascal again, because all I could hear was his heartbeat, and his heavy breathing…and then he was looking at me, with that same look he'd given me when we were singing in Drama, except now it was more intense, and I didn't know what was happening—

And then we were kissing.

I don't know how, but suddenly I could feel his soft lips were against mine, and my hands were in his hair, and it felt so _right_, and I didn't want to pull away.

We'd probably been kissing for less than ten seconds before I realized what I was doing.

And suddenly everything Riku had said to me wouldn't quit replaying in my mind.

"_I'm scared—"_

"—You're _beautiful." _

"_**I love you."**_

Over and over and over.

I broke away from the kiss, cupping his face. It was crazy how hard it was to do that. Sora blinked at me, his eyes half-open, obviously disoriented.

I didn't know what I was doing.

"I…" I had no idea what I was feeling, either. I didn't know if I felt regret, shame, or reluctance, but…I knew one thing.

I dropped my hands from his face. "I can't…I can't do this to him…"

Sora visibly crumpled. "Wha—"

I wasn't about to let him speak. My face felt warm, and so did my eyes. I was pretty sure I was about to start crying.

"I…I have to go."

I got to my feet.

And ran.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I couldn't believe I'd just kissed Sora.

My _best friend_.

Best friends didn't kiss each other, right?

So what _did _I feel for Sora, really? He was obviously more than a just a friend to me…but what did that make him?

And what about…what about Riku?

As I took a shower, got dressed and did my makeup, getting ready for that evening, I had a long time to think everything over. But all I got from the jumble of thoughts were three things: Riku was my boyfriend, Riku loved me, and I had a date in barely an hour.

I wasn't sure about the rest.

Riku arrived exactly on time, in a new black car I didn't recognize. He was wearing a tux, which was assuring, because it meant I wasn't overdressed.

I'd thrown on one of the many dresses Vanille had forced me to spend my pocket munny on, and I'd somehow managed to curl my bangs without burning myself. Dressing formally was one of my fortes, so it wasn't really a problem.

I didn't know when it was that I'd put on my makeup, because, in my opinion, I looked like a clown. In my determination to remain busy I'd probably applied and reapplied my makeup at least five times over.

He apparently approved of what I was wearing, because he had his Cocky Smirk™ on again. "Hey."

"Hey." He tried to kiss me, but for some reason I immediately lowered my head, preventing him from going any further.

"Ready to go?"

I nodded. "Where…where are we going, actually? I know you said we were going dancing, but…"

"There's this place called The Peristylium…my old ballroom dancing teacher owns it. She's totally on board with letting us in tonight."

"Wow," I pulled on my seatbelt. "…cool."

My mind started to drift again as I looked out the window at Sora's house. I touched my lips. They still tingled from the kiss, and…well. I still wasn't sure why I cared. I was still trying to understand the look Sora had given me when I broke away. I wasn't sure if he was disappointed…or just confused. If I knew that—

"Kairi?"

I started in my seat. _Crap, he's been talking to me._ "Huh?"

"You…you okay?" He reached over to touch me, but I instinctively recoiled. His eyes narrowed. "Hey—"

"I'm fine."

He evidently didn't believe me. "Kairi…you can tell me."

Yeah, right. What was I supposed to say? 'Sorry, Riku, it's just that I kissed my best friend and have no idea how I feel about him right now, or how I feel about you for that matter'?

"I…I said it's nothing…I'm…" I decided to trail off, opting to switch on the radio to fill in the empty silence.

"…_Now when I caught myself, I had to stop myself_

_From saying something that I should've never thought of you_

_Of you…_"

I froze, recognizing the song immediately. It was that dreaded Paramore song, the one from that Twilight movie. I suddenly felt a lot like Bella Swan, stuck between my own Jacob Black and Edward Cullen, except in my situation they weren't a werewolf and a vampire, but my really cute best friend and my abused boyfriend.

"— _pushing and pulling me down to you_

_But I don't know what I want_

_No, I don't know what I want—"_

I couldn't take it anymore and switched off the radio. I could feel Riku's eyes on me. "Yeah I…I hate that song."

He shrugged, chuckling. "I thought it was pretty ni—"

I turned the volume up, letting Nicki Minaj takeover, and cutting him off. I wasn't sure I was ready to talk to him.

We remained silent for the rest of the ride.

* * *

…**yeah. So you guys got what you wanted in this chapter. Kairi's POV of the monumental kiss scene. Hurrdurr. **

**And it's five in the morning, which means I've literally stayed up all night finishing this chappie.**

**And I have school on Monday, and in barely two hours I'm supposed to wake up, and it's NEW YEARS IN LESS THAN TWENTY FOUR HOURS. **

**And I'm spazzing because I'm actually gonna be able to post a new chappie before 2012. WOOT. (Okay, so I know it's 2012 already where some of you guys are…but whatever.) CAN'T FRIGGIN WAIT. ONLY THREE MONTHS UNTIL THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS KH:DDD GETS RELEASED IN JAPAN. AND THE FANS WILL FANGASM. **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_She's cute—but can she dance?"_

"_Just…just stop…"_

"…_Riku, don't go!"_

* * *

**YEAAAAAAAH.**

**Hehe…my butt hurts, and I need the bathroom, so I'm gonna post this now. **

**Happy 2012, and all the usual. We've got an epic year in store for us. The Hunger Games, KH3D, Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 for you Twilight fans (*throws chair at chu*), and…oh, yeah—the end of the world! Can't forget that, can we? Lmao…**

**Anyways. Stay safe, stay awesome, stay sexy.**

**And til next year. **

**(HARHAR YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I'VE WANTED TO SAY THAT…)**

**Word Count: 7,250. I RULE. **


	27. Same Mistakes

**A/N: We're gonna party like, like it's the end of the world, we're gonna party like, like it's 2012! *dances manically* **

**Lol…well…new chapter of Angel. Anyone excited? *raises hand* Because this is the only chapter I have a feeling won't be that hard to write. *grins* **

**Review replies, because I'd like to hurry up and get on with the fic:**

**Isabelz3Cookies: Big Time Rush fan, huh? Their music is classic boyband-type music, and I don't mind their song 'Music Sounds Better With U'. But…I HATE THEIR SHOW ON NICK. Lol, not trying to be a hater or anything; this is exactly the same way I was about JONAS, though I didn't mind the Jonas Brothers themselves…you know? Lol…anyway…Kairi's story is gonna get a lot weirder from here on out. Enjoy! **

**Huh? That's it? Oh…well about this chappie: …drama. Dun dun dun. Duuun.**

**Disclaimer: …lol I've run out of clever ways to say I don't own Kingdom Hearts. D: The ballroom song is 'Glitter in the Air', by P!nk. Not mine, obviously.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Riku's got a secret…_

"…my Dad hit me…he's been hitting me for a while now…but I just never told anyone."

_Namine's _still _mad at me. _

"Since when have you felt about talking about anything?"

_Yuna's sick._

"She's got bronchitis."

_And I kiss Sora._

Suddenly I could feel his soft lips were against mine, and my hands were in his hair, and it felt so _right_, and I didn't want to pull away.

_And I realize how confused I am. _

_I like Riku…a lot. _

_And Sora? What exactly do I feel for him?_

* * *

**Chapter 27: Same Mistakes**

The Peristylium ended up being a private ballroom. I didn't even know those existed anymore, especially on a small group of islands like Destiny Islands. It looked absolutely amazing, with its polished stairs and ornate designs and marble flooring…couples waltzed professionally in their fashionable ballgowns and dancing get-ups, while a few on the sidelines donned spicy mini dresses and Armani suits, obviously waiting for some tango music to come on.

"Wow…this place…" I felt like I was in a fairytale—Cinderella, or something. Except without the glass slippers, or the prince. I glanced at Riku, whose lips were tilted in that smile he only gave me, the one that made my heart ache. Okay, so maybe I did have a prince with me…

"You like it?" We turned around to see a ginger-haired woman with light blue eyes and a roundish face. She had a small smile that was both intimidating and hospitable, and her expression was undecipherable. "Kuku!"

Riku muttered something incoherent, and I had a feeling he didn't like being called that. I made mental note to tease him about it later.

The ginger-haired woman adjusted his collar, even though she was about two heads shorter than him. "Wow…look how tall you've gotten." Her eyes turned to me, and she raised a curious eyebrow. "And who is this?"

"This is Kairi," Riku replied immediately, his fingers intertwining with mine. "My girlfriend."

"It's…nice to meet you…" I tried to remember what Riku had told me about her. I remembered him saying something about her being his dancing teacher, but I couldn't remember what her name was. "Riku told me you used to teach him to dance."

"Did I ever." I felt self-conscious as she looked me up and down. I suddenly wished I'd been focused enough to choose out a more conservative dress that showed less of my back. "Hm. Nice dress." Her opalescent eyes flitted back towards Riku. "She's cute—but can she dance?"

Riku gave her one of his cocky grins. "You'll be surprised."

Caetuna didn't look impressed, but smiled for the sake of it. "Wow me."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Dancing did prevent me from thinking about everything I didn't want to think about, but it also made me breathless and sweaty and I was pretty sure my hair was all over the place. We'd been tangoing and sambaing and pretty-much-everything-else-ing for what seemed like hours, and I tried to push myself to my limit. I felt a weird desire to impress Caetuna—the ginger-haired woman—especially since she was Riku's dance teacher.

And, besides, I'd never really liked disappointing people.

Riku was even better than he was on skates, which wasn't surprising. I didn't have a dance background as broad as Riku's, but he told me to follow his lead and it ended up being quite easy. Until I started getting tired.

"Think…she's impressed?" I asked between breaths.

The world span as he twirled me around. "No idea. But...who cares?" I fell into his arms, wishing I didn't have to pull away again. "We're having fun, right?"

I was too exhausted to roll my eyes. "If you call…prancing around…nonstop…_fun_."

The song seemed to be taking forever to end. We were dancing to Cheryl Cole's _Parachute_. We'd been dancing for God-knows-how-long. My feet had started to hurt, and I had a feeling our dancing was starting to get sloppy. Riku nearly span me into someone, and I regretted wearing heels once again.

Just as I was about ready to pass out, the song came to an end. Riku was panting as well, so I guess I wasn't the only one who was exhausted. Riku suggested we take a little break, and, of course, I didn't object.

Riku leaned on the counter, showing him the tickets Caetuna had given us. His forehead was matted with sweat, and he still managed to look sexy. I was beyond jealous, and I had a feeling I didn't want to know what I looked like. "Two martinis, please."

"Whoa," I objected immediately. Alcohol? I knew more than anyone else that alcohol and I didn't go well together. "I'm not—"

Riku shot me a look, that clearly meant he wanted me to shut up. I did. He shot the bartender a challenging look, which the bartender returned before disappearing to retrieve our drinks.

"Riku…" I groaned. I didn't even know what a martini was. I had a feeling it was a 'rich people' party drink or something. Alcoholic of course. I watched Gossip Girl. "I don't wanna get drunk…"

"You won't." He gave me a quick kiss on the lips, as if that solved everything. "I promise."

He had that look in his eyes, and I felt a pang of guilt. I quickly averted my gaze, looking up at the sky instead. The stars were on full display in the midnight black sky. My mind started to drift then, as I remembered something Sora'd said one day, when we were in the garden, under the same starry sky, and—

The bartender came with our drinks, snapping me out of my train of thought. It tasted strongly of olives and smelt like rubbing alcohol and it burned the back of my throat, but I was thirsty, so I tried not to notice.

That's when Caetuna arrived, in all her glory, with her large ballroom robe and styled hair. I nearly choked on my drink.

"So…are you guys having fun?" We nodded simultaneously, and she smiled tersely. "Did your girlfriend take any dance classes in the past?"

I hoped Riku would have forgotten about me telling him about taking tap-dancing, but, unfortunately, he hadn't. He told her, and I had a feeling Caetuna was trying hard not to look unimpressed. I didn't blame her. Tap-dancing was a sad, embarrassing part of my past that I'd just wanted to forget.

Riku tried to amend his mistake, at least, by changing the subject. "W-Well…how was the dancing?"

"Meh. Could have been better."

I felt my heart drop to my stomach at the comment. I honestly thought we were pretty decent. Riku was obviously trying not to look disappointed. "Oh."

I was about ready to scream at Caetuna for being such a bitch when Riku'd obviously worked really hard when she belted out in laughter.

"Kuku! I was just kidding—you guys were amazing!" Her smile was blinding—it was like she'd swallowed the sun or something and it was trying to escape from behind her teeth. "Well, at least until you guys got tired; it started getting a little sloppy near the end. But that's no big deal…" She patted me on the shoulder, and I regretted judging her so harshly. She seemed really likeable. "You're really good…you should drop by more often. I wish Kuku had introduced me to you earlier."

"Kuku." I couldn't help but laugh at that. "That's cute."

He rolled his eyes, his ears turning a darker shade of pink, and took my hand. He obviously didn't want both of us ganging up on him. "Come on. Let's go dance."

* * *

_Have you ever looked fear in the face_

_And said 'I just don't care'?_

It was a slow song, thankfully. I could feel Riku's hand on my waist as we swayed to the music, as he held me close, as we leaned on each other. I rested on his chest, my arms around his neck, his cologne making me dizzy. I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but all I knew was that the moment was supposed to be perfect.

_It's only half past the point of no return_

_The tip of the iceberg, the sun before the burn_

_The thunder before lightning, the breath before the phrase_

_Have you ever felt this way?_

"It doesn't get better than this, does it?"

I didn't really know what to say to that. I should have said yes. A few weeks ago I would have given anything to be where I was right then. A few weeks ago, dating Riku was my dream, and I would have never imagined we were ever going to end up there, rocking slowly to the slow music, underneath the stars.

Riku had always seemed perfect to me, until I'd found out about his past, that is. I'd always thought he was too good to be true. He looked like a Calvin Klein model, he seemed to have everything, and he had _everyone _at his fingertips. Even me, who was sure she was never going to see guys the same way after…what had happened.

And he'd told me everything, and I'd been there, and he'd kissed me…I'd felt something. I was sure I'd felt something.

But I knew it wasn't enough.

_It's only half past the point of oblivion_

_The hourglass on the table, the walk before the run_

_The breath before the kiss and the fear before the flames_

_Have you ever felt this way?_

Because—

"Hey." I felt Riku's breath on my ear, and I looked up at him inquiringly. I wished I hadn't. He had the doting look on his face again. He gave me a lingering kiss, and I tried not to think about how different it was from—

_**No**__, Kairi. You're on a _date_. With _Riku_. _

The look was still there when he pulled away, and I felt another pang of guilt in my chest. "Riku…" I needed to tell him. It wasn't fair on him. On anyone.

_Have you ever wished for an endless night?_

_Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight…_

Riku spoke up before I could say anything else, his eyes full of emotion. "I love you."

And then he said it again. And again. And he sounded so sincere. Every time he said those three words it felt like he was punching me in the stomach.

"Riku." I stopped him before he could continue. I probably laughed a little. I was nervous, I was guilty, and I was pretty sure I was about to cry. "Just…just stop. I…I…"

Riku cut me off again, tracing my lips with his thumb. And for a second I thought he'd somehow _feel _that I'd kissed Sora that afternoon, and realize—

He didn't. Of course he didn't. He just kissed me again, like he always did.

-APOLOGIZE-APOLOGIZE-APOLOGIZE-

I tried to will myself to act like I was enjoying myself a lot more as the night dragged on. It wasn't so hard. I mean, I was preoccupied with all the shit in my life, but I managed to push them back with a couple of martinis and fast-paced music. Dancing had always been fun. As long as there wasn't another slow dance, I was fine with it.

I forced Riku to drive me to the beach after we left. I babbled something about us needing time with nature. I didn't exactly know what I meant, but I did know that I seemed to appreciate Riku a lot more when it was just us and the forest, or just us and the sea, or just us and the sand.

"Are you sure your Mom's gonna be okay with you staying out this late?"

I'd slipped off my heels, swinging them in my free hand, while holding Riku's hand with the other. I shrugged. "I dunno. Probably not."

Of course she wasn't going to be okay. I had a feeling the note on the fridge about me going out on a date wouldn't sit well with her. I probably shouldn't have left it, because now I couldn't even come up with a lie to explain where I'd been. And once she found out I'd been out with a guy—namely, _Riku Harada_—past midnight…well. I was pretty sure I was going to be grounded indefinitely.

Oh well. For some reason I didn't feel all that bothered. Probably the booze going to my head.

I heard Riku chuckle. "Don't you care?"

"Not really." I stopped walking, turning around to look up at him. I wasn't sure if I was trying to be seductive or not when I wrapped my arms around his neck, but if I was it was working. "I don't wanna go home."

"Me…neither."

"We could stay out here all night if we wanted to," I continued, not sure why I was saying all this. I'd never been the flirty bitch type. Except for that one time I went OOC in Victoria's Secret…but that was irrelevant. "I could tell my parents I'm staying over at Yuna's or something…"

That seemed to make him blush. Or just horny. I couldn't really tell. "Yeah…you could do that…"

I decided to annoy him. I pressed my lips against his, and then pulled away just when he was really getting into it. I whacked him on the arm. "Tag. You're it."

He rolled his eyes, obviously frustrated. "Are you serious?"

I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. He was probably thinking about how childish I was. I guess I was acting pretty childish. "You seriously want to play tag?"

"Yeah." I slowly made my way backwards, getting ready to sprint after what I said next. "What? You too scared you won't be able to catch me?"

Riku loved challenges. I'd learnt that over time. He'd challenge anyone to anything and swear he could beat them, and if he didn't he'd demand a rematch. Rematches were unnecessary, most of the time. Riku was good at pretty much everything.

Except tag, apparently. He was fast, but I was faster. And I wasn't even on the track team.

Okay, so I didn't have any shoes on, which meant I had the advantage, but…still. He was tall and muscular, but I was small and nimble, and I managed to make him sweat, which, I guess, was an achievement. I was actually having fun.

"What's wrong, Riku?" I giggled after sidestepping out of his reach for the umpteenth time that night. "Tired already?"

"Get real," he muttered, pouting slightly. I was still laughing when I tripped on thin air, and Riku reached out to catch me…

We somehow ended up falling onto the sand, me underneath.

I felt oddly giggly. And pretty stupid for somehow falling over when I was standing in one place. His voice was husky and his words came out in a whisper. "Caught you."

We just looked into each other's eyes for a while. And then he kissed me.

And I tried to kiss him back like I never wanted to pull away. I wanted to kiss him back. I wanted to feel something. I wanted to kiss him and feel like fireworks were going off in my head and that the world was collapsing all around me…in a good way.

But I couldn't. I felt almost nothing. Well, figuratively speaking, of course. I did feel his tongue exploring the walls of my mouth, and I hoped what I felt in my lower region was his cell phone, or something, and not what I thought it was.

Needless to say, I started to grow exceedingly uncomfortable. I felt way too warm. I managed to make him stop, though. I mumbled something about it being late, and Riku agreed to take me home. I pulled myself to my feet, picking up my heels. The world span for a few seconds, but I managed to regain my balance. I could feel sand in my hair, and I realized my dress was littered with sand, too.

I sighed. I was going to have a hard time explaining that to Mum.

I was too depressed and disappointed in myself to strike or contribute to any conversation on the way home. I knew it probably wasn't fair on Riku, but...

I was tired. And confused.

I needed my bed. I needed to sleep of the alcohol and forget about how I didn't deserve Riku and how I'd pretty much lost my best friend.

We got home. I forced myself to smile, just for him. "Thanks. For everything."

I was about to get out of the car when he stopped me, grabbing my wrist. I turned to him in shock, feeling my body tense instinctively at his touch. I willed myself not to go into panic mode, inhaling deeply and trying not to scream at him.

He didn't even wait for me to speak. "Kairi…most of my life, I've felt…alone. Even when I was with people." He paused, his grip tightening around my wrist. "Until I met you."

I didn't want to hear anymore. My conscience wouldn't shut up, and I had a feeling if he didn't stop soon I'd scream at him. "Riku—"

He looked desperate, though, continuing anyway. "Kairi, whatever I did to you, I'm sorry, and I just want you to know that I lov—"

"I—" I couldn't take it anymore. I snatched my arm away from him, and I felt beyond horrible when I saw the pained look on his face. "I…should really…get going."

I didn't want him to see me crying, because I was pretty sure I knew how that would turn out, so I got out of the car, shutting the door behind me.

I slipped through the front door with my key, hoping Mum was working late, or that Dad had one of his late night flights or whatever…

It was just wishful thinking, of course.

Mum and Dad were there, and they didn't look happy.

I sighed. "Mum, Dad, I know this looks bad, but—"

Dad wasn't having any of it. "How long have you and that boy been…_dating_?"

I stifled a yawn, knowing there was no way out of it now. "For almost a month."

"Wh—"

"I didn't want to tell you guys cause I knew you'd freak out."

"Well of course we would!" Mum hissed. "We're your parents! It's our _job _to freak out!"

"And to know who exactly you're dating." Dad crossed his arms, looking the way he usually did when he had a cigarette withdrawal. "So…who's this kook who's so bad you can't show to your own old man?"

"He's not…" I slipped off my heels, realizing my feet were now red where the straps used to be. I groaned. "It's just Riku. We've been seeing each other…" I trailed off at the look on their faces. Dad looked confused, while Mum looked slightly bothered.

"Who's…?"

"He's the quiet kid we met at Aerith's," Mum explained. Dad nodded, but I knew he'd already forgotten about ever seeing him before. She frowned slightly. "You were on a date…with Riku."

I nodded. "Yes, I was. And now if you don't mind, I'm going to upstairs and get ready for sleepy…" I decided to stop talking when I realized I was starting to talk gibberish.

"Are…are you drunk?" Dad asked, his gaze darkening.

I shook my head profusely. "Nope…just tired…"

I left then, before they could realize I was lying.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Mum wasn't done, though. She arrived in my room while I was just about to get into bed. At first I thought of pretending I didn't see her, but I knew I wasn't fooling anyone.

"Kairi…Riku hasn't tried to…hurt you in anyway…has he?"

"What?"

I stared at her, confused and slightly shocked. Riku was the last person that came to mind when it came to someone hurting me. Okay, maybe not—Sora was—but…

Ugh.

"Like…pressured you to do something…you don't want to…"

"Of course not."

"Good." Mum nodded, still looking wary. "I'm…glad to hear that."

"Why?" I couldn't help asking.

She shrugged, but it was obvious she had something on her mind. She started to leave, before stopping in her tracks. "I just…saw something in his eyes that day. It scared me."

And then she left.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I fell asleep instantly, and I was pretty grateful for that.

I woke up with a headache, but I'd had worse. I was sure it'd be gone by the time I got to my first class. Mum said she and Dad had come to the conclusion that I deserved to be grounded for a month, and I nodded in assent. It was the holidays soon anyway, and since Sora and I weren't exactly friends anymore, I wouldn't really have anything else to do except sit on my couch watching Gossip Girl marathons.

I made Riku some breakfast, cooked up a lie about leaving to school early and headed over to Riku's. It was still awkward between us, but that wasn't his fault. It was mine. I'd begun to feel increasingly guilty whenever he kissed me, since I knew I couldn't return his feelings.

We headed off to school, in silence. It was Friday, the last day of before Spring Break. Everyone was talking about where they'd be going, where they'd be traveling, who they'd be seeing.

Riku and I had nothing to talk about. He knew I wasn't going to Ivalice with him, and I knew it was impossible now…

I went out of my way to avoid Sora that day. I didn't know if I'd be able to handle it.

It was hurting me, though. We hadn't talked in ages, and now I'd just guaranteed that we weren't going to go back to being best friends anytime soon. I'd crossed the line. It was too weird. I felt guilty for kissing him without warning…and _liking _it. I mean, he was my best friend…and we weren't the storybook best friends who'd been friends since childhood and slowly realized they loved each other…

We were just two people who happened to meet each other…

The question Sora had asked a while back wouldn't stop repeating in my head that day.

"_Do you think it's possible for a girl and a guy to just be friends and not…fall in love with each other?" _

The look in his eyes after he said that…

Was it possible? That he actually…liked me more than a friend?

That would have explained a lot of things. Like what happened in Drama. And how sometimes he'd just look at me and smile for no reason. And how…he didn't push me away when I kissed him. Or when he kissed me. I didn't really know who'd initiated the kiss. It kind of just happened.

I tried not to think about how badly I wanted to kiss him again.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I spent the whole English Literacy class staring at the back of Sora's head, wondering what he was thinking. I'd switched places with the lanky guy who always slept in class, and Aqua didn't object. In her eyes, sitting near the front of the class would help him pay more attention.

I couldn't keep my eyes off Sora, though. For some reason I wanted him to catch me staring, for him to look back at me, for him to do _something_. It was like it didn't bother him at all.

The bell rang, and I was more than eager to get out of there and go and lock myself in the bathroom or something, but just as I was about to run out the door, Aqua spoke up. "Kairi, could I have a word with you?"

I turned to her, confused. I mean, I didn't remember doing anything wrong in her class… "Um…sure."

We waited for everyone to leave the classroom, and Aqua told the last person out to close the door behind him. She told me to pull up a seat in front of her desk, so I did. I felt slightly nervous—Literacy wasn't exactly my favorite class, and hoped she wasn't going to reprimand me on something I did or didn't do or whatever.

I cleared my throat. "So…um…"

The stoic look on her face disappeared, and she sighed, leaning her arms on the desk. She wiped some of her rich blue hair away from her eyes before looking back at me. "I know…this might be a weird question to ask but…" She hesitated. "Do you think it's possible to be in love with two people at the same time?"

"I...I don't..." I stared at her. She averted her gaze, letting her eyes fall back on the desk as she played with one of her pencils, the ones with the smiley-face attachable erasers on the end. I didn't know what to say, or how to answer her question. Awkward much? A teacher asking her student for love advice? And loving two people at once? Why would she ask _me_—?

I froze as it hit me. That maybe…

Riku…and Sora. I loved Riku _and _Sora.

No…that didn't make sense. I couldn't love two people at the same time. It wasn't logical. I mean, that only happened in bad romance novels. Like Twilight, or…

I felt sick.

"I…I need to go…I've got glee practice, and—"

"N-No…" Aqua looked crushed. "I…I really need help with this. I know it's…you're my student but…you're a girl, right? I m-mean, I don't know what to do anymore, I'm—"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm the one you should be asking." I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying. Why did I feel like crying? What was wrong with me? "I'm…sorry."

I picked up my bookbag and ran out of the classroom before she could say anything else.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Riku walked me to the Music Room again, like the perfect boyfriend he was. I told him we'd meet up at my house after school, since my parents were going to be out all afternoon. We had a Chemistry project due, and Riku and I hadn't even started on it.

That wasn't the main reason I invited him over, though. Maybe I just wanted him to be there with me. I didn't know how else I was going to spend my afternoon, since Sora and I weren't friends anymore.

Of course, we didn't have Glee club, since Yuna had bronchitis, but I decided not to tell Riku this. I guess I wanted some time on my own before heading home. I went with the girls to watch Cheer Practice, even though most of them weren't even practicing, and just gossiping and/or texting their boyfriends.

Rikku was crying because apparently her college boyfriend had been cheating on her with this girl in one of his classes. I thought it was pretty nice of him to tell her about it even after they'd broken up instead of just keeping it a secret, but Rikku didn't, and swore she was going to 'make that bitch pay'. I didn't see how she was going to manage that, seeing as she didn't even know who she was or which college she went to, but I was too tired to care.

After spending a good ten minutes doing nothing, I decided I'd be better off just going home, so I called Riku and informed him before catching a bus home.

* * *

I tried to liven myself up a bit before Riku came. I'd been frowning way too much lately, and I'd heard that frowning gave you wrinkles. I had a shower, put on as little makeup as possible and slipped on a white blouse and the denim hot pants I rarely wore.

Sora's curtains were closed, so I couldn't see what he was doing, or if he was there.

I sighed.

The bell rang, so I didn't even have time to act disappointed. Riku came in, a tub of my favorite flavor of ice cream in his hands, and I led him to my bedroom in a totally non-seductive fashion. He looked around the room, and I realized he'd never seen it before.

I plugged some music in on my iPod, before disappearing downstairs to get us some spoons. He was fiddling absently with the pink bear he'd got me when I came up. I tossed him a spoon, and he caught it effortlessly.

I sat down opposite him on the bed and opened the tub, and we ate up in silence.

After a dozen or so scoops, I decided I'd better bring up the project, because I knew there was no way Riku was going to do anything anytime soon if I didn't force him to do it. I pulled out the worksheet from my bookbag and scribbled our names on the appropriate line. I could almost hear him roll his eyes. "This Chemistry project is due on the first week we get back, right?"

He groaned lazily. "Kairi. Are you seriously talking about homework on a holiday?"

"Um, FYI, Riku, it's not Spring Break until tomorrow."

Riku made a tiny circle in the air with his spoon, as if that helped make his point. "No, Spring Break starts as soon as school ends, and school ended this afternoon."

"Well…" _Ugh._ "Whatever."

He laughed, while I tried not to smile. It's not that I approved of his laziness…but his smile was contagious. "Yeah, you're right. We have three weeks to finish our project." He lowered his voice. "Good thing you're my lab partner."

"Mm." I pretended I didn't notice the innuendo, taking another spoon of ice cream. He didn't seem to appreciate my song choice—that Irish band _The Corrs_—and he scrolled through my iPod for something 'better'. I realized I hadn't asked Riku about what happened between him and Sephiroth. I tried to act casual about it. "So…Riku. What happened with your Dad yesterday?"

He immediately frowned. "Nothing."

I tried not to act disappointed that he was acting so stubborn. "Nothing?"

He sighed, playing a random Enrique song. "He just asked when I was coming home."

I hesitated before continuing. "…what did you tell him?"

"The truth," he muttered, taking another spoon out of the tub. "That I'm never coming back."

I sighed, shaking my head. "You can't avoid him forever. He's your Dad."

"No, he's not," Riku snapped, his eyes dark. "He's a heartless bastard with a drinking problem."

I decided to give up and wait until Riku was in a better mood. There wasn't anything I could do when Riku was in a mood—time had taught me that. He very rarely let me in on anything, and I knew when he did—like when he'd told me about his Dad and being abused—he seemed to regret it afterwards. I sighed, letting my eyes drift towards the window, wondering if Sora was back yet. He had to be back by now. Maybe he'd seen me looking the day before and—

"I'm not hungry anymore…" I tossed my spoon in the trash can before laying back on the bed. The music was making me sleepy, and I was just about to doze off when I felt Riku's breath on my face, and then his fingers brushing at my bangs. I had the urge to pretend I was asleep so I wouldn't have to see that _look_ anymore.

Of course, I had to open my eyes eventually.

He brushed my lips with his thumb, and I realized how close his face was to mine. "You're beautiful, you know that?"

I'm a girl. Every girl wants to be called beautiful at least once in their life. I couldn't help but smile, feeling that bubbly feeling in my stomach again. "So you've told me."

He chuckled, leaning in even closer. I could hear his heartbeat. "Don't you just wish you could freeze time?"

"Sometimes."

His sea green eyes stared straight into mine, and I tried not to think about how they weren't blue, or how his hair wasn't spiky, or how he didn't smell like baking and peppermint bubblegum…and just look at him, and take him for how he was…

I guess I should have known he was going to kiss me eventually.

I felt myself flinch at his touch, and tried to resist the urge to pull away and tried to kiss him back just as urgently. I tried—I really tried—to feel something different when I kissed him, but unfortunately didn't succeed.

So then I gave up and tried to act like I was somewhere else, someone else, and just wait for him to be done, but that wasn't exactly easy seeing as Riku wouldn't stop moaning my name.

I stiffened as I felt his hands creeping up my shirt, and suddenly the room felt way too hot. Everywhere his lips touched seemed to set my skin on fire. I clutched onto the duvet, trying to ignore my rapid heartbeat, his grip on my arm…

Suddenly his hands felt cold. He was suffocating me. His breath against my cheek tasted sickeningly sweet. His husky groans made my skin crawl.

And _those _memories resurfaced, seemingly out of nowhere, and I lost it.

Before I knew what I was doing, I'd screamed and pushed him away with all the force I could muster.

He yelped, naturally, and tumbled off over the edge of the bed, landing with a painful thump.

In any other context, I might have actually laughed.

The room felt deathly cold all of a sudden.

I realized my shirt had become unbuttoned, and wondered when that had happened. I clutched it closed, realizing my chest felt damp. I watched him rub the back of his head, looking up at me with a look—a mixture of pain and humiliation. And then anger.

"Riku…" My words barely came out in a whisper. "Riku I'm…I didn't mean…"

His gaze turned dark, and he pulled himself to his feet. "No…it's fine." He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, and it was obvious from his voice that, no, he wasn't fine. He started buttoning his shirt, refusing to look at me. "I understand."

I realized I was shivering. "No…Riku…"

"I said I _understand, _Kairi," he snapped, his words laced with venom. "I should've known, anyway. You think I haven't noticed how you freeze everytime I touch you?" For a second I thought he somehow knew about me and Vincent, until he said: _"_You think I haven't noticed the way you look at _him _all the time?"

…_oh._

The look in his eyes scared me. I'd never seen him this angry—ever. I hesitated, trying to find a way to make him understand, because it was obvious he didn't. "I…I don't know wh-what you're—"

"_**Sora**_! I'm talking about Sora, Kairi!"

I shook my head fervently. "Riku, you're just—"

He grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. I tried not to focus on how agonizingly tight his grip was. "_Look_ me in the eyes and tell me you don't have feelings for him."

I opened my mouth to tell him just that…

And stopped.

I'd obviously be lying if I told him I didn't feel something for Sora. Sora was my best friend—

No. He was more than that. And I knew that.

I looked at Riku, feeling guiltier and guiltier each passing second. Telling Riku about why I was so jumpy was suddenly irrelevant. This was the real issue—who did I really love? Riku—the guy who'd told me _everything_, the guy who constantly told me how beautiful I was, the guy who was pretty much everything any girl would want in a boyfriend—or Sora…the awkward guy I just happened to meet and fall in love with?

I didn't know. I didn't want to have to choose. I loved them both, if that was even possible.

And the sensible side of me wouldn't stop yelling at me to tell him it wasn't true, to tell him I only loved him, and to save our relationship…

But I couldn't.

Riku's grip lessened on my shoulders, and he let his arms fall to his sides. He averted his gaze, his jaw tightening, nodding as if he'd known all along. "Exactly."

I felt like I was about to cry. Everything was spinning out of my control. What had been a perfect evening was turning into a nightmare, and I didn't know how to stop it. "Riku—"

"Don't!" His voice came out strained, like he was trying not to cry himself. He still refused to look at me. "Please. Don't."

I did start to cry then. I didn't know what was happening. I watched him pick up his bookbag and storm out of the room, heading down the stairs. I didn't know where he was going, and I knew letting him leave when he was so angry was extremely dangerous. I immediately ran after him, hoping to stop him before he got to the door, to make him change his mind.

"P-Please…Riku, don't go!" My words came out in sobs. "St-stay with me, please—"

I desperately grabbed onto his shirt sleeve, trying to make him look at me…and that's when he lost it.

He turned to me, his eyes stormy pools of greens and blues tinted with ambers, and for a moment it looked as if he was _possessed _with rage. And I knew I'd crossed some kind of unspoken line of sanity.

And for a second...I saw Sephiroth.

"Leave me the fuck alone, bitch!"

Everything happened so fast after that. I heard the loud cracking sound before I felt the pain, and suddenly I was slumped against the wall, and my head hurt, and my back hurt, and my cheek hurt…

And I realized with horror what had just happened.

I could barely bring myself to say it out loud. My words clogged up in my throat, and I figured I must have bitten my tongue when he...hit me. The metallic taste of blood in my mouth was nauseating.

I felt dizzy, and I cradled my head to try and stop the world from spinning so I could look at him. "Riku…Riku, you…"

I could barely make out his blurred figure. He was staring down at his hand, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just done. And then he looked at me, shaking his head.

And stormed down the stairs.

And left.

* * *

I don't know how long I just sat there, just crying my eyes out. I was pretty sure my cheek was swollen, and I wasn't sure if he'd broken my head or not.

I didn't care, because there were a lot worse things to worry about.

Like whether or not Riku had just broken up with me, for one.

And I realized I cared about Riku. A lot. I wanted him back.

I felt hopeless, I felt terrible. And I didn't think anyone could possibly make me feel any better.

Except...Sora.

I dragged myself upstairs, ignoring my body's cries in protest, to retrieve my phone. It took a while to dial Sora's number since my fingers were so damn shaky and I still wouldn't stop shivering.

His phone rang once. Twice. Three times. And he didn't pick up.

So I tried again, and again, and I was suddenly desperate to hear his voice, to see his face, to hear his laugh. I wanted him to hug me and tell me Riku was a douchebag and that he didn't deserve me and fix me hot chocolate and stroke my hair and sing me to sleep…

"Sora…please…pick up the phone…" I clutched the phone when it rang for the umpteenth time with no answer, and burst into tears again.

And it was then that I realized:

I loved Riku.

But I was _in love _with Sora.

* * *

**WOW KAIRI. TOOK YOU DAMN LONG ENOUGH. TWENTY-SEVEN CHAPTERS! CAN YOU BELIEVE ONE GIRL CAN BE SO DUMB? *shakes head* Lol…I can't talk…cause I've never been in a relationship lol. Did you like this chapter? I didn't. Too much whiny b*tch Kairi in it for my taste. And not enough SoKai. Honestly, at the moment, I'm having the least fun writing this. BUT IT'S ABOUT TO GET A HELLA FUN TO WRITE FROM NOW ON. CAUSE GUESS WHAT? I'MMA WRITE SOME AAANGST. :D **

**Lol…sorry. **

**Enrique song that was playing? Well that's 'Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)', of course. DUH. Oh, and if you don't know the Corrs, then you're missing out on some awesome Irish Music. :D Lol...I wasn't thinking about any particular song, but I guess 'Make You Mine' is a good pick. **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_This is Arecia."_

"_Namine…"_

"_Please. Talk to me."_

* * *

…**euh…ouais. :P **

**Well…I guess that's it. It's seven in the evening and my back hurts. I've got a truckload of homework, and it's that time of month where I feel like throwing a chair at everyone and everything. **

**Ahem. Word vomit. I'm gonna go do my homework now. **

**XXXX R&R, will ya?**

**Total Editing Time: 68 minutes. **

**Word Count: 7,892.**


	28. Regrets

**A/N: So…ready for some more Kairi-ness? *nervous laugh***

**Replies…**

**Anon: THANK YOU SO MUCH for your critical yet kind input….honestly Kairi pissed me off in this fic, but…well. She has to be a bit of a Sue for the plot to work…which sucks, honestly. I'mma try and fix things, kay? **

**NOTICE: It has come to my attention that Kairi is a huge Mary-Sue in this fic. I had a feeling she was starting to become a Sue anyway, but…yeah. I've been informed by more than three people, so I guess now's the time to start taking action. I've taken an online Mary-Sue Litmus test for Kairi, though I'm not sure it's legit since she's not actually my made-up character or anything, but she got Borderline-Sue/Mary-Sue. So I guess I should work on that lol. Thank you everyone who let me know; I'mma try and do something about it and maybe go back and change a few things once it's done. *smiles* **

**What's up? Hmm…nothing really…except I found out the guy I **_**might **_**have a crush on is most likely gay. Yeah. That shows how much my life sucks. **

**About this chapter: SHORT CHAPTER IS SHORT. DEPRESSED KAIRI IS DEPRESSED. **

**Disclaimer: FANFIC DOT NET, Y U NO GET IT ALREADY?**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Everything goes to hell. _

"I should've known, anyway. You think I haven't noticed how you freeze everytime I touch you? You think I haven't noticed the way you look at _him _all the time?"

* * *

**Chapter 28: Regrets**

I must have fallen asleep somewhere along the line. The realization that I was in love with my best friend coupled with the pain from Riku hitting me…it was too much. Probably enough to make me faint in exhaustion. Especially after dialing Sora countless times with no answer.

I remembered when I'd gone out with him to buy the phone, as soon as I'd found out he didn't have one. I'd forked out a hundred munny from my allowance and taken him to the mall. He insisted on not spending too much on a phone, which I was more than happy to agree with. I'd customized it so that he'd always know when it was me calling him, and made him promise never to put the phone on vibrate.

At first I thought maybe he didn't have his phone with him, but it got harder and harder to convince myself that was true. I knew he'd heard me. I also knew that we hadn't been on talking basis ever since that kiss…the kiss I couldn't seem to get out of my mind.

My pillow was damp when I woke up. I felt even worse. I stroked my cheek and realized it was swollen. _Great_. I was going to have a lot of explaining to do when my parents got home.

I was too weak and too drained to get out of bed, and I was contemplating just going back to sleep and curling up in the sheets and never waking up when I heard a rummaging sound coming from the bathroom.

I looked at the clock, wondering if it was late enough for Mum to be back yet. It wasn't. I debated whether to go figure out who was in my bathroom, to call the police or to ignore the noises and just go back to sleep. The third option was tempting, but I decided I had to figure it out myself.

I threw my legs over the bed, shaking slightly at first before dragging myself to the bathroom door. I picked up my Phys/Chem textbook just in case, ready to smash the head of the intruder if he had a dangerous weapon or—

I turned the doorknob, and I froze when I saw who was inside.

She was perched over the toilet, blonde fringe matted against her pale forehead, some of her hair getting caught in her mouth. She coughed, knuckles whitening as she gripped onto the rims of the toilet seat, her flushed red cheeks making the rest of her face look even paler. Tears streaked down her face, though no sound escaped her.

I stared, confused. And then my eyes found the white stick, barely concealed by the towel…

…it was suddenly extremely hard to stay standing. "N-Namine…are you…"

She looked at me, and I knew there was no point asking if I already knew the answer. She looked scared. So, so scared.

"No…" I knew I'd started to cry again. I couldn't believe Namine…Namine was… "Who was it? Who did this to you?"

She didn't say anything; she couldn't say anything. She collapsed into my arms, a sobbing mess, her tears soaking my shoulder through my shirt. Her sobs came out short and strained, as if it hurt her to cry, and she gripped onto my shirt desperately, as if she'd collapse if she let go.

Just when I thought she wasn't going to speak, I heard her whisper: "R-Roxas…"

* * *

I didn't know what I was supposed to say to her to make her feel better. I felt powerless. I felt scared. I felt confused.

Namine, my little sister, who wasn't yet sixteen, was pregnant.

I didn't know the facts yet, but I now knew Roxas had something to do with it.

And for some reason I couldn't get what Olette had told me a while back out of my mind.

The reason she and Roxas had broken up had been because Roxas was using her. For…that.

Roxas…and to think I'd actually believed things were different between him and Namine. I felt guilty, knowing I could have spoken up and prevented all…this…from happening.

I let Namine cry on me for a while, and then I helped her get cleaned up. I tied her hair up and wiped up her face with my towel, and then I got her into some clean clothes. Her forehead was burning hot, and I didn't have any experience with pregnancy, so I didn't know if that was normal or not.

I tucked her into bed, making sure she wasn't drowning under the duvet. I wiped her fringe out of her eyes. She looked so _small_. I couldn't believe she was now _carrying someone inside of her. _

I tried hard to sound strong, for the both of us. "I'm going to clean up the bathroom, okay?"

I was just about to leave when I felt her tiny hand clutch around my wrist. Her eyes were half closed and brimming with tears, and she was still shivering. "Kairi…please just…stay."

I couldn't bring myself to say no, so I huddled into bed next to her. It felt warm under the duvet. Her feet were freezing cold against mine. She buried her head into the crook of my neck, and I froze as I heard her whisper: "I…I'm scared, Kairi."

Because that was exactly what Riku had told me, when I'd found out he was being abused. And I'd had to clean up after him, and to be _his _shoulder to cry on, and promise him I'd be there for him…

Where was he now? I'd seen the look in his eyes, the look of absolute shock when he'd looked at me after he'd hit me. But I'd also seen his 'rage face'. And I had no idea how Riku was probably feeling at that moment. Or where he was. Or what he was doing.

And I was scared. And helpless. And _I _needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to hug me and tell me I wasn't a bitch for telling Riku the truth…even though I knew I was. I wanted, for the first time in my life, to feel _safe_.

I wanted him.

I needed him.

Because without him, everything felt dark.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Namine was gone when I woke up. She'd left a note, under the pillow. She'd gone back to see her boyfriend.

I didn't know what was wrong with her.

I had no idea what else to do but go and ask Sora, even if he was ignoring me. It was Mum who informed me that Sora and Roxas had gone to their Dad's for the break.

I had to resist the urge to burst into tears right then.

After that, everything just seemed to go to hell for me. I couldn't motivate myself to do anything. I spent a whole day in bed, cuddling the stupid pink teddy bear Riku had gotten me. The world suddenly felt dull. I refused to go downstairs, and ended up wolfing down all the candy in the Valentine's basket for breakfast. My stomach didn't seem to agree with this, and I very nearly ended up throwing everything up.

I really did miss Riku. The bruise on my cheek had almost completely healed now; it was barely visible. But I could still feel it beneath my skin, as if the scar was still there. I didn't know what to feel. Riku had every right to hit me, didn't he? I'd sort of cheated on him…and he'd given me everything while I'd given him nothing in return. He told me things he'd never told anyone before, and I was the only one he really had left…

I missed the way he put his hands in his pockets when he was nervous, the way he'd kiss me when I was in the middle of saying something…that his unique half-smile, his matchless aquamarine eyes that reminded me of dolphins and creeks, the way his nose flared slightly whenever he was lying, the way he'd tell me he loved me over and over again and actually _mean _it…like I deserved him. I missed his imperfections too—like how he had a slightly short temper, how he had the tendency to look down on those worse off than him, and how he could turn the most innocent things into something perverted. I missed his smell, and how it felt to hold his hand, and the feeling of butterflies swarming in my stomach whenever his lips met mine.

And Sora. I didn't know how it was like to _really _kiss Sora—since our kiss had hardly lasted half a minute, and I could barely remember it—but I knew how much I loved his company, and the little things he did. I wasn't sure when it was that I'd fallen in love with Sora. We'd started out as friends, and once I'd gotten passed his less-than-stellar looks, he'd actually turned out to be a really nice guy. Hanging out with him was always fun. We just seemed to click; it took us barely a month to get passed the awkward 'getting to know each other' stage, and then it was like we'd known each other for years. Maybe it was because I understood what it was like to be like him, the school punch-bag.

And I guess on the way I'd sort of helped him up…or maybe he'd just helped himself. He'd always had this attractive determination to accomplish whatever he sought out to do. He could be a wimp sometimes—like when it came to climbing trees or learning how to skate or attending social gatherings—but along the way he began to make it his goal to face his problems instead of run away from them, which was what had got him so far. He'd managed to gain Riku's acceptance, and they'd even become friends, something I'd never thought was possible. Sora was just too damn nice. After all Riku had done to him, he'd just…forgiven him. Like it was nothing. Like it didn't really matter. Like his friendship mattered more than what he'd done in the past.

Sora's optimism, his benevolence, and his ability to brighten up even my worst days were only a few things in the long list of what I loved about him. His physical attributes didn't even matter, though I'd also fallen in love with his large babyish eyes, and his smile that took up almost half his face, and the tiny snoring noises he made when he slept, and his adorable blush…

I missed them both, so, so much.

The first week was uneventful. Maybe that was only because I was hardly aware of my surroundings. I'd spent my afternoons either curled up in bed or on the couch, eating ice cream straight from the tub. I'd always thought only girls in sad movies did that, but I came to realize that, when going through heartbreak, ice cream really was, honestly, a girl's best friend.

I watched a few sad movies, though nothing got a reaction out of me until I watched _The Little Mermaid_. Then I just burst into tears.

I decided to torture myself and go through all the Disney movies Sora had lent me…or, to be more precise, had forgotten at my house. They were about twenty-something in all, and I'd often fall asleep halfway through _Mulan_.

I spent a week like this. Every day seemed worse than the last. I couldn't see the light in anything anymore. Not even my pile of DiCaprio movies managed to cheer me up. It was as if I'd lost the ability to laugh.

I knew the feeling all too well. I'd spent a year like this before…the year after my fifteenth…

I couldn't believe how many problems what happened on my fifteenth birthday was causing. I'd think I was over it, but then, at the most random times, the night would pop up again, and I'd feel his teeth and smell his sickening breath and everything would turn red and I'd feel like I was drowning…

And now it had cost me my boyfriend. If I hadn't been so jumpy, I might have been able to…to let Riku…do what he wanted. He deserved that at least, right?

I didn't know. I didn't know anything anymore. Sometimes I'd just be sitting in front of the TV and suddenly my thoughts would start racing and it was like I was trying to think of so many things at once. I'd suddenly have this urge to let everything out, to spill all my problems to someone, but there'd be no one there to listen. Sometimes it would irritate me so much that I'd start crying again.

I cried a lot that first week. I'd wake up every day and my pillow would be damp, and then I'd cry myself to sleep.

I stopped crying altogether when the second week came along. I didn't really know why, but I just couldn't. My pillow would be dry when I woke up, and Disney movies had no effect whatsoever on me anymore. I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

It was now that my parents had started noticing something was wrong with me. I had this problem—whenever I felt like crap, I would just eat. And eat. And eat. It was like I believed eating would fill the emptiness in my stomach, or something. I supposed that's what brought it to their attention.

We were in the kitchen—Dad had just left for work, grumpy because there wasn't any orange juice, and Mum was about to leave for hers, sporting a stylish swimsuit I knew she'd gotten from her job as an assistant designer. I was trying to get the hot chocolate maker to work, but for some reason the milk refused to come out. I tried pressing it a few more times, harder, but the hot chocolate maker revolted and I ended up shocking my finger and pouring my mug of brown slush all over my Hello Kitty pajamas.

I snapped then, pulling the wire out of the socket and throwing the stupid machine in the trash.

"Kairi…are you okay?"

I'd forgotten Mum had been watching. Oops.

She didn't even wait for me to answer, walking up to me and feeling my forehead. "Are you sick?"

I shook my head, not really knowing how to explain the way I felt. I was sick, just not the way she thought I was.

Her eyebrows knitted together in a worried frown. "Kairi…what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I croaked. I hadn't realized until then how long it had been since the last time I'd said something out loud.

"This isn't nothing, Kairi. You're shutting me out again." I was just about to head back upstairs when Mum spoke up again, making me freeze in my tracks. "Did something happen between you and Riku?"

His name made my blood run cold. I wanted to yell at her. I wanted to tell her that something _had _happened between us, and that we had most likely broken up, and that I had no idea where he was, and that he was getting abused, and that Namine was pregnant, and that I was tired of carrying everyone's problems on my shoulders, and having to keep secrets, and having to be everyone's shoulder when I needed one myself.

But I didn't. I remained silent.

Mum sighed, and she stroked my cheek affectionately. She didn't notice the bruise. I wondered if it had healed yet. "Kairi…I…did you and Riku—"

"I said I was fine!"

I didn't mean to yell at her, but I guess I just didn't want to hear her say it out loud. And I knew if I let her speak anymore I'd just end up completely breaking down.

I shrugged out of her embrace and escaped to the living room, curling up on the sofa with a bag of Doritos I'd found in the cupboard. I scrolled through the channels and realized Tangled was on.

"Kairi."

I kept my eyes trained on the television. The chips felt stale and mushy in my mouth, and I found it almost impossible to swallow, but I forced myself to act as if I hadn't heard her until she left.

My sleep was rudely interrupted on Saturday morning. I was having one of those pointless dreams about counting sheep on clouds when suddenly the door to my room slammed open and Dad's voice blasted me awake.

I was too weak to get mad at him.

I groaned, though, since the light did kind of blind me and he'd interrupted my sleep and all. I was just about ready to go back to sleep when I felt someone slip his arm underneath my stomach and throw me over his shoulder.

I protested, naturally, but I was powerless in his iron grasp. He carried me downstairs and then out the front door, and that was when I started to panic. "Where are you taking me?"

He remained silent, depositing me in the back seat of the car. I realized Mum was already sitting in the passenger's seat, fiddling with the GPS. I made to open the door and run back upstairs, but then I realized the door was locked, and that I was locked inside the car for good.

I repeated my question, but they still remained silent, so I resolved to refuse to get out of the car whenever we arrived until they took me back home.

This plan might have worked, if I hadn't been so tired. I fell asleep, and I vaguely remembered being lifted out of the car, but when I woke up I was sitting on a padded couch in a place that appeared to be a waiting room. There were a few other empty chairs, while two seats were occupied by my Mum and Dad, who were conversing discreetly.

I opened my mouth to ask where the hell I was when someone emerged out of one of the rooms, capturing all our attentions. She was a large-breasted woman with a full mop of dark wavy hair, thin spectacles, and a seemingly rehearsed smile. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. I had a feeling she hated her job.

"Hello. You must be Kairi."

I was about to ask how she knew my name when suddenly everything clicked.

The sickeningly sweet smell of the room. The too-comfy chairs. The stupid classical music playing in the background.

"Kairi, this is Arecia, your therapist."

I spazzed.

At the time I was too angry at the fact that my parents had dragged me there against my will and treated me like I was some kind of sad nutcase. A therapist? Really? It sounded like complete nonsense to me.

"What the hell, Mum?" I yelled, my voice slightly croaky. "You took me to a shrink?"

"Kairi!" Mum gasped. She'd always thought the word 'shrink' was offensive. I was pretty sure I'd have to add one more dollar to the Swear Jar, even though it wasn't exactly a curse word…but my Mum got sensitive when it came to those kind of things. "Apologize to her right now!"

I glanced at Arecia, whose expression remained exactly the same. I wondered if she was used to being called that. She gave me another warm-but-not-really smile which for some reason made me want to throw a chair at something.

"I don't need a _therapist_," I mumbled, crossing my arms. "I'm going home."

"Well we think you do," Dad spoke up, finally. He was frowning, like the way he usually did whenever someone mixed the peanut butter with the jam. "You been acting like a slob ever since you got off school, you won't stop eatin', and me and your mother are having a hard time standin' in the same room as you anymore."

I stared at them, looking down at my outfit unconsciously. I realized then that I'd been in my Hello Kitty pajamas for more than two weeks, and that the huge hot chocolate stain was still there, and that I hadn't had a shower ever since the day Riku dumped me.

The fact that I was in my pajamas in public was enough to make my face heat up. I suddenly felt exceedingly stupid.

"Just try and listen to her, okay Kairi?" I felt Mum hug me. "Please. Maybe she can help you."

I doubted it, but I obliged anyway. I knew they weren't going to leave me alone if I didn't.

They waited outside while I entered her 'office'. There was a shelf, stacked with books I presumed were on philosophy, and certificates were on display on the walls. I could hear the faint ticking of the clock, and classical music playing in the background, probably meant to be 'soothing'. The floor was carpeted, and the air conditioner was blasting on full-force.

I pulled on the sleeves of my pajamas, trying not to make it obvious that I was freezing. She cleared her throat, taking a seat on one of the chairs and placing her hands on her lap.

I took a seat opposite her, already regretting it.

"So…do you want to tell me what happened?"

I remained silent. _As if_.

"Okay, I guess I'm moving a bit too fast." She cleared her throat again, pulling out a file from her suitcase and flipping through it. I wondered what was in there, what she knew about me. I wondered what my parents had told her.

She adjusted her glasses and pulled out a blank piece of paper and a pen, ready to scribble down whatever she found out about me. "So. As you probably know, my name is Arecia. I just want you to know that anything we talk about in here is entirely confidential, and I won't tell a soul whatever you tell me in between these walls."

I didn't believe her. Of course my parents would ask, and of course she'd end up telling them. They were parents after all. It wasn't possible that she wouldn't let them in on what I'd told her. As if I was going to tell her anything.

So I said nothing. A whole hour passed before Arecia finally said I could go. At first I tried shaking my head to every question she asked, but even that got tiring and I ended up resorting to all out ignoring her. I wondered what she'd written down in her file. '_Uber-bitch with attitude and hygiene problems. Smells like cheese and old socks.'_

I really craved a bowl of cereal…and maybe some chicken wings. And soy sauce. Maybe I'd stop by the corner shop for some cupcakes.

I waited in the car while Mum and Dad talked with Arecia. I hoped she'd gotten fed up with me and wouldn't ask me to come back.

Apparently that wasn't the case. Mum informed me that I'd have to be going there two days every week for the rest of the school year.

I stormed into the garden as soon as we got home. I didn't want to have to talk to my parents.

It didn't help. Okay, so it did help quell my anger, but the stupid numb feeling came back again. The flowers…they just brought back all the memories. I didn't know why I was acting as if Sora was dead, but I guess that was just because I missed him like hell. And I felt horrible for rejecting him…

I didn't know what my problem was. I guess it was because it was that time of year when I started feeling worse than I usually did. My birthday was in less than a month…

I hugged my knees, clamping my eyes shut, trying to think of anything else but…that. It was harder now. I felt so alone. If Namine was there…maybe I could have told her. She was the only one I could have talked to—I'd promised I'd tell her sooner or later…once I found out what secret she was keeping. But now I didn't care. I just needed to tell someone…and not the stupid therapist or my parents…because I knew they would never understand. It would just make them freak out; they'd probably never let me go anywhere un-chaperoned ever again, they'd inform all the teachers about my 'condition', they'd give me that look full of _pity_…and I didn't want any of that. I just wanted to be treated normally.

It had seemed to be working—I'd managed to move to this new school and sort-of blend in…even ending on the top of the social ladder, which was a drastic change from my old school. I'd made friends, gotten one of the leads in the school play, taken part in school events—to anyone I'd met, I came across as just another teenage girl. And then there was Sora—whenever I was with him…I don't know. I just felt like my fifteenth birthday had never happened.

But now I'd lost them both. I'd broken Riku's heart and Sora wasn't talking to me anymore.

I felt so alone.

I wanted to cry, but no tears came out, and I ended up just making these strained choking sounds. It was pathetic, really, and I don't exactly know how long I stayed like that.

I plucked one of the flowers from the flowerbed, inspecting it. It was a zinnia. I had a feeling some unseen deity was laughing at me from somewhere in the sky. Soon I was ripping out every flower I got my hands on, scouring through the flowerbed, and I'd gotten at least a quarter of the way through when I was interrupted by a tiny squeaking sound.

At first I thought I was just imagining things, or maybe going crazy, but then I heard it again.

It was coming from Sora's backyard.

I pushed myself to my feet, making my way to the fence that separated my garden from Sora's. I wiped my muddy hands on my pajama top, sighing heavily. There was no other option but to climb over.

I'd known how to climb trees since I was a toddler, because back in the day Radiant Garden was actually a garden, and there were trees everywhere. (Before people started dumping radioactive waste and excess oil in the sea, and plants started getting genetically modified, and people gave up trying to keep Radiant Garden a tourist attraction and just focused on keeping businesses booming and preventing civil wars. I knew my history.) Anyway, it wasn't that hard to push myself over the fence, but the jump was pretty steep and I almost sprained my ankle on the way down.

I felt my fact heat up as I looked around the garden we'd spent so many afternoons in…and where we'd had our first kiss.

Suddenly it clicked, where the chirping sound was coming from. Pascal. Sora's squirrel. I searched around the garden for it, hoping it hadn't died of starvation. I fished a handful of squirrel food out of an abandoned packet of peanuts and sat down, trying to be as quiet as I possibly could.

Pascal came out soon after. He seemed to remember me, because it didn't take him long to run up to me and start eating. I figured he'd managed to find some food on his own, judging from the fact that he was still alive. Well, I didn't exactly know that much about animals.

I sighed, stroking the squirrels neck. It was weird. I'd never really seen squirrels as pet material. I was more of a dog person. A smile found its way onto my lips when I remembered Sora hated dogs…which just reminded me of how we weren't friends anymore.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up it was starting to get dark. I sprung to my feet, said goodbye to Pascal, and climbed back over the fence.

Mum and Dad were in the kitchen, and Mum had tears streaking her face while Dad was trying to comfort her. She gasped when she saw me. "Kairi!"

She pulled me into a hug, crying onto my shoulder. "I…I was so worried!"

I didn't get what was going on. I couldn't be bothered to ask.

Dad pulled Mum off me, a frown present on his face. He looked me up and down. "Where were you?"

I glanced at the clock; it was at least seven in the evening. Oh. So _that _was why they were worried. "I was in Sora's garden."

They looked at me like I was insane. Mum was still crying. Dad looked pissed. "Why? Got tired of destroying your mother's?"

I cursed inwardly. "Sorry."

"Sorry isn't goin'ta grow them back," he muttered. "We thought we were finally done with all this crazy behavior from you when we moved here, but apparently it just gettin' worse. Your mother and I ain't going to put up with this _again_." He sighed, shaking his head. "You're grounded. Again."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Another week passed—the final week before Spring term began and we were piled on with all the pre-exam classes and I'd have to go back to school and face all those people and…and _Riku_. If he ever came, that was.

Namine didn't show up that week either. The urge to speak got stronger and stronger.

But like hell I was going to tell Arecia anything.

I had to go see her every day—Mum insisted I had to until school came around. We'd spend an hour—her asking me questions and trying to warm up to me and me just ignoring her—and then she'd let me go, trying not to show how fed up with me she obviously was.

I didn't care. I hated the therapist. I hated the too-clean couches and the certificates on the walls and the annoyingly relaxing classical music and the way she adjusted her glasses every five seconds. I wanted to punch her. I wanted to punch everything and anything, actually.

When I wasn't angry, I was sad, or confused. I'd start overthinking, and then I'd try to cry, or just raid the fridge. They couldn't stop me. Mum had her gym buddies and Dad had work.

Being grounded wasn't such a big deal. I didn't really have anywhere to go. I did end up missing Rikku's seventeenth birthday party, but I didn't really mind. I'd been ignoring pretty much everyone's calls since the beginning of break, so they all probably thought Riku and I were on holiday together…unless Riku had already told them we broke up.

I did try to do something once. I spent an afternoon in the piano room. I hadn't played it for ages, and I still felt perpetually weak, so most of the pieces I used to know came off a little sloppy, so I gave up.

I found one of Namine's Taylor Swift CDs she'd left over, and I eventually found myself listening to them. Apparently Taylor Swift had a _lot _of relationship problems, because almost all the songs were about break ups and being in love. And I hated to admit, but it was like she was reading my diary or something. I actually didn't mind one or two of the songs—more specifically 'If This Was a Movie' and 'Last Kiss'. They kind of grew on me.

The weather had been annoyingly _happy _throughout the break, so I was relieved when Mum announced it was going to rain that Saturday. I was consuming a packet of KFC chicken Mum had brought home as leftovers from the gym. Mum had never really liked fast food—she was thinking of becoming a vegetarian, even—so it was all the more for me.

Mum was getting ready to head down to her shop, to make sure everything was okay before she resumed on Monday. She'd braided her hair, and her makeup looked flawless. If I had it in me I might have told her how pretty she looked.

"Kairi…I'll be back in less than an hour, okay?"

I couldn't be bothered to nod. Mum sighed. "Just…don't do anything stupid."

She left then. The house felt cold. I could hear the rain had begun pelting down outside. I held back a shiver. I hated thunderstorms.

I tried humming the song Sora had sung to me. It wasn't the same. My voice was weak and tiny and it just made the fact that I was alone in the house in a thunderstorm even scarier. I finished the last piece of chicken and dumped it in the trash can.

I curled up on the sofa, plugging my ears with the most depressing Taylor Swift song I could find. I had a feeling if I cried I'd feel better. I hated that I had I couldn't just let everything out.

I tried screaming into a cushion. It hardly helped. I turned the volume up, but Taylor's voice just came out hazy and her words jumbled up into nonsense. I could hear the erratic thumping of my heart, along with the sound of rain pelting down harder outside. I wondered where Namine was. Had her boyfriend, Seifer, found out yet? Why was she with him, anyway? Had he chucked her out on the street? Was I supposed to go look for her? And what about Riku? Was he still living in that shady apartment…all by himself? Had he told all his friends about how much of a bitch I was, about how I wouldn't…put out? That didn't seem unlikely. Riku probably hated me now. I wouldn't blame him if he made everyone hate me as well.

I bit down on my lip so hard I thought it might have cracked open. My body convulsed, in the way it usually did when it wanted me to cry. My head felt like it was going to explode.

Thunder cracked again outside.

I'm not sure how, but I found myself of my feet, and then I ended up outside, feeling the rain soak my hair, seep through my sweater and through my skin. And I didn't feel scared. The rain…it actually felt sort of nice. I might have just stood there, staring at nothing, had a noise not interrupted me.

It was the sound of wheels. Skateboard wheels.

He was blurred by the rain, and it was dark outside, but I could make out the unique spiky blonde hair.

Roxas.

He was smoking, which wasn't a surprise, though I found it odd he managed to do that considering the weather. I could barely make out the dark jeans and jet-black hoodie, and the skateboard at his feet.

My heart skipped several beats. Roxas was here. Which meant…which meant Sora was too, right?

I wavered, waiting until Roxas had skated completely out of sight before sprinting across the lawn and to Sora's front door. I wasn't sure how long it was that I just stood there, too scared to do anything but gaze, hoping for what was on the other side of the door. I was shaking, shivering, as I finally rang the doorbell. I needed Sora to answer the door. I needed to see him. If he wasn't there…I didn't know what I'd do with myself.

And then he opened the door.

And I swear my heart stopped.

* * *

…**this chapter. THIS HELLISH CHAPTER. Seriously, this part of the story…why is it so hard to write? WAI? WRITER'S BLOCK, Y U NO DIE?**

**Meh. Well on the brighter side there was a whole lot of Kairi-angsting. And potential SoKai. And NamiKai…even if it was just sister-mance. (Wot. Wot am I talking about.) **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_Kairi…what're we doing?"_

"_He dumped you?"_

"_I…I don't know."_

"_Stay away from my sister."_

"_Come on, Sora."_

* * *

**You're probably not going to believe me, but I honestly promise the next chapter will be better. I'll push myself. And since I'm on Mardi Gras holiday I've got a week free to WRITE WRITE WRITE! **

**XXX R&R as you please! Critique, praise, flames—I'm open to anything.**

**P.S: If you haven't already, check out 'The Way I Loved You'! Open to critique and ways I can improve it! I'm re-editing it at the moment...but feel free to check it out! xxx **


	29. Change

**A/N: I would have loved to post this in time for the Kingdom Hearts 10-year anniversary/RokuNami day, but my life sucks, and yeah. Sorry for that. **

**Replies: **

**The Traveler: Haha yes, she angsts a lot, and it can get annoying…but trust me Kairi in this chapter… **

**About this chappie: …Kairi will majorly piss you off. So…yeah. Beware. **

**Disclaimer: THU UNIVERSE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME I'M GLAD YOU CAME I'M GLAD YOU CAME**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I have a new reason to hate Roxas._

Namine, my little sister, who wasn't yet sixteen, was pregnant.

_Everything's wrong without him. Without them. _

I was scared. And helpless. And _I _needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to hug me and tell me I wasn't a bitch for telling Riku the truth…even though I knew I was. I wanted, for the first time in my life, to feel _safe_.

* * *

**Chapter 29: Change**

"Kairi?"

I could hardly recognize him anymore.

His hair…it wasn't in its usual spiky style that I'd gotten used to, and he looked so different without it. It made him look edgier, older…I'd never thought a haircut could make someone look so different.

He was staring at me. I was dumbstruck. Had his eyes always been that blue?

I was barely aware of the fact that it was raining anymore. I was barely aware of anything anymore. Except that this beautiful creature was standing in front of me, and his face was so damn close to mine. His lips started to move, but I wasn't understanding anything he was saying over the sound of my heartbeat.

My body had started to act on its own, and before I knew it I'd grabbed Sora's face and pulled him into a kiss.

All the feelings came rushing back, the feelings I'd been trying to hide, to quell whenever I was near Riku….suddenly they were everywhere, _he _was everywhere, and I was falling in love with him all over again. I kissed him, again and again and again, over and over…and then he began to kiss me back.

The sensation that followed was indescribable. I couldn't even...every time our lips touched, it was like my heart was swarmed with butterflies, drenched in cotton candy, filled with bubbles. My whole body felt warm, despite the fact that we were getting soaked. I wasn't sure what it was about his kiss, but it was driving me crazy.

We might have been kissing on Sora's front porch forever had I not ruined everything by sneezing in his face.

It was only then that I realized how cold it was, and that we were kissing in the rain, and that it was so cliché and I didn't even care. He said something inaudible and pulled me back into the house, locking the door behind him.

His back looked so much more impressive than it usually did. I was sure his shoulders hadn't been that broad before the break. His hair was still sticking up despite the fact that it had been soaked. Droplets of rain dripped down his face from his hair and onto his already damp shirt.

He wiped at his fringe, making my stomach do all sorts of somersaults at the small action. I didn't know what was wrong with me.

Sora opened his mouth to say something I didn't hear. That kind of set me off again, and before we knew it we were making out furiously and we somehow ended up on the sofa.

I wasn't sure what I was doing anymore, since my body had begun to act independently. I was acting so uncharacteristically 'sexy' it wasn't funny.

"Um, Kairi…" Sora was obviously growing uncomfortable.

Not that Sexy!Kairi cared, or anything. I still couldn't believe what was happening, unsure if I was dreaming or not. I trailed my hands down his damp cheek, leaning in to kiss him again…

And then the bell rang, and I was pulled back into reality.

We parted like the Red Sea, jumping to separate ends of the couch, breathing heavily. I heard voices coming from the other side of the door, and watched as he stood up to go open it. I caught myself staring at his butt and...ugh I was disgusting myself.

I straightened my blouse and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, trying to make myself look like I hadn't been heatedly making out with Sora barely seconds ago. I noticed the TV was on; he'd been watching Glee before I came in.

It was Aerith and a guy I'd never met before, looking like they'd just come back from a trip. Aerith pulled Sora into a warm hug immediately, while the other guy just brushed past them with their suitcases. He gave me a perfect white-toothed smile, his sea-green eyes glinting. He looked pretty young, and his smile was infectious.

I slowly got to my feet, thinking of taking my leave. I didn't really need to be here during their sentimental family moment.

Aerith placed her hands on Sora's shoulders, looking up at his hair in awe. "Your hair! He…you got a haircut?"

"Yeah…" Sora scratched the back of his head, the way he always did when he was nervous or embarrassed. "I was long due for one anyway."

She marveled over his hair for a bit before suddenly gasping, rubbing Sora's arms. "Oh my…you've been working out?"

It did seem like it. His arms had gotten beefier. He wasn't at Riku's level or anything yet, but—

I stopped myself from letting my thoughts drift off to Riku again.

The dark-haired guy emerged, laughing. "Finally! I was actually starting to get worried you'd stay as scrawny as a stick for the rest of your life!"

"Zack!" Aerith scolded, looking nervously at Sora, who didn't seem half-bothered. She gave Sora a motherly smile, shaking her head. "Ah…I've missed you…and where's your brother?"

"He's…he went for a walk or something…" Sora mumbled. I thought of adding that I'd seen him skate off on a skateboard in the middle of the pouring rain, but decided against it.

Sora seemed to finally remember I was there, clearing his throat. "Um…"

I decided to take over for Sora so I could take my leave. "Hello, Aerith. And…Mr. Zack."

She introduced me to Zack and vice versa, while I tried to remember what Sora had told me about Zack all that time ago. Wasn't he the guy who hit Aerith or something like that? If he was, it was hard to believe, because it sure didn't look like it.

I smiled, we shared an awkward silence, and I cleared my throat, getting ready to leave. "Well…I'll leave you guys to…um."

"See you tomorrow then." We watched as Aerith and Zack disappeared into the kitchen, before finally letting our eyes meet again. Sora's face was slightly darker than usual. He was blushing.

He opened his mouth to say something, looking slightly lost for words. I hated when he left his mouth open. It just made me want to kiss him so much more.

I restrained myself. I smiled. "Well…I'll see you tomorrow then."

I didn't wait for him to nod, turning on my heels and making one of the most glorious exits I'd ever made in my life.

* * *

It was only when I'd rushed upstairs and into the sanctity of my bedroom that I realized a large number of things.

Like how much I must have stank—I hadn't had a shower for a while now—and how messed up my hair must have looked. And how I must have tasted like chicken.

I was still in my terrible Hello Kitty pajamas, with the hot chocolate stain and everything, and when I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked like a train wreck. My lips didn't look desirable at all. I wondered if I'd scared Sora away. Maybe he'd been trying to make me stop. I couldn't remember.

I palmed my face, feeling it growing warm. It was so embarrassing. I couldn't believe I'd just marched up to Sora's house and started furiously making out with him. What if his parents had been there? What would have happened then? We were lucky his mum hadn't noticed we were both damp and scruffy looking. She'd looked like she was floating on a cloud.

I decided not to dwell on that. I'd kissed Sora. He'd sort-of kissed me back. Simple as that. No harm done. I could think about the rest later—the next day, when I went over to his house, maybe.

I felt the sleep pulling me under. The rain poured down outside, but for once I didn't feel that scared. Just thinking about getting to see Sora the next day…

I felt myself smile as I slipped into sleep.

* * *

I called Sora up first thing the next morning. I'd slept in a little late, but as soon as I woke up, Sora's voice was the first thing I wanted to hear.

The sadness and depressed feelings I'd been getting since the beginning of break just seemed to vanish whenever I heard his voice. I didn't know what it was about him. Maybe it was because I was in love with him.

In love with him. I was in love with him. I didn't think I would ever get tired of admitting that.

He picked up the phone, and I immediately launched. "Hey! Um…it's me. Kairi." I felt my heart starting to race, even though Sora hadn't even said anything yet. My lips still tasted like him. If that was even possible. "Um…I was thinking maybe we could go out somewhere today, you know, enjoy our last day of break or something? I mean…" I cleared my throat. "…we…we haven't seen each other for the whole break. And we need to catch up and stuff. And you need to tell me _everything_. Did you really work out over the summer? On purpose?" I'd started to ramble. I wasn't sure why. I'd never been that nervous on the phone when it came to Sora. "Because the Sora I know has, like, a phobia of all that. Maybe we could go to the beach. I mean, I haven't been out of the house for ages, and it'd be really cool if maybe—"

"Kairi…what're we doing?"

I paused, confused. And then I got what he was talking about.

He still remembered yesterday. The kiss. Of course he did.

My hands felt clammy. "…Sora—"

He didn't let me finish. "What exactly happened between you and Riku?"

The happiness was starting to fade, the more I thought about Riku, and how he'd looked at me before he…

I didn't want to think about it, and it kind of irritated me that Sora insisted on bringing it up. Sure, it made sense that he was curious about Riku and I, but… "Sora, we can talk about this later—"

"No. I want to talk about this now. You've given me no explanation whatsoever…and it's confusing."

I snapped then. "I don't _need _to explain anything to you!" I irked me that he cared so much. For one second, I wished he was one of those guys who didn't care about the context as long as the girl was willing. "Why can't you just forget about that and accept that I like you and move on? It's not that important—"

"Well I think it is, Kairi. I don't want to be the other guy, and I don't want to be your rebound either. And if you don't think it's that serious, then maybe we should just stick to being friends."

My heart plummeted. "What? Wait, Sora—"

_Beep. Beep._

I stayed there, shaking my head in disbelief. I couldn't believe he'd hung up on me. Sora. Sora had hung up on me.

Shock turned into dejection. It felt colder all of a sudden, and I felt like I was about to cry. I hated this feeling.

Rejection.

I'd never really tasted rejection before, to be honest. At least not from guys. I'd been too miserable during my sophomore year to really feel anything for anyone. And when I'd gotten a makeover and moved over to the Islands, people did seem to like me. Not even Riku had rejected me.

I pressed my lips together to stop myself from crying and headed to the bathroom.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I scrunched my nose. I was pretty sure a pimple was going to come out of nowhere. My face looked clammy as hell. My mouth tasted horrible, and I didn't even dare to find out what my teeth looked like. I ran my fingers through my tangled hair. It had started to grow out, and now jaggedly brushed my shoulders. I looked like an absolute mess. I actually felt sorry for Sora, knowing he'd had to kiss me in this state.

Suddenly, the sadness began to slowly convert into anger. Angry at Riku, angry at Sora, angry at myself.

Riku had no right to hit me. Sora had no right to just blow me off like that. And I was sick of sitting in the house like a hermit, doing nothing and just wallowing in my sorrow. I was better than that. I had to stop being such a drama queen about this. I'd been an idiot, simple as that, and it was high time I did something about it.

So I stripped myself of the terrible Hello Kitty pajamas, took a long-awaited bath, scrubbed my hair, shaved, washed my face, brushed my teeth. I came out feeling fresher than I had for a while, and wondered why I hadn't considered cleaning up earlier. It really did wonders to my mood.

I spent the rest of the day doing what I'd neglected during the rest of my break. I did my lab, by myself, since Riku had bailed on me. I fixed my nails, conditioned my hair, cleaned up my room. Mum had taken my Hello Kitty pajamas out to be burned. She hated them that much.

She was elated when she saw I'd finally brightened up. She offered to make me breakfast, to take me out to lunch…but I declined, saying I needed to go out for a run. I'd added almost three pounds due to binge eating, and if I wasn't careful I wouldn't be able to fit into my bras anymore.

Running was refreshing. It helped clear my mind, at least for a short while. It was hot out, and I had to restrain myself from stopping at the many ice-cream parlors on the way. I ran up and down the beach, and then took a jog around the park before heading back home. I stopped by the mall and picked up a few outfits to fit my new size on the way.

Mum was out when I got back, which wasn't a surprise. I took another shower and had a protein bar. I watched some TV for a while but eventually got bored, so I decided to do what every normal teenager does when they have nothing else to do.

I pulled out my laptop and decided to waste some time on Facebook.

I had several notifications, mostly from my friends who were wondering where I'd been. I'd apparently missed Vanille's birthday and about three house parties. I flipped through several pictures taken at said parties, and was inwardly relieved I hadn't gone to them.

I hesitated momentarily before checking out Riku's wall. He apparently hadn't been on Facebook for more than a month. I felt strangely guilty. His profile picture still hadn't changed. It was a picture he'd taken when we were at the beach. Riku looked flawless, as usual, and it was the day I'd forgotten my sunglasses and Riku had lent me his…

My heart felt heavy as I started scrolling through his pictures. It hurt, seeing all the memories we'd made together, even if it was just for a short while. He seemed to capture everything on camera. I wasn't sure how.

I paused at a picture, feeling tears starting to brim my eyes. It was a picture I'd taken, while Riku was asleep. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. His silver fringe fell across his eyes, and his cheek was buried in the pillow. I couldn't believe he'd actually uploaded it. He probably hadn't realized I'd taken that photo and just uploaded them all at once. Typical Riku.

I decided that was enough torture for one day, and I was about to sign out when something caught my eye. I'd gotten a friend request again…from someone called Sora.

I immediately accepted, my heartbeat racing. The last time I'd checked…

It was Sora all right. He'd apparently just made his account, but he already had over three-hundred friends. I spent at least five minutes just staring at his profile picture—a black-and-white headshot that looked so professional it could have come out of a fashion magazine.

He'd put 'Feeling sexy' as his status, which was so un-Sora-like it made me cringe, but his three-hundred friends must have approved. He only had one photo album—_Seventh Heaven_. My curiosity got the better of me, and I began scrolling through the photos.

It basically compromised of some kind of 'wild night out'—partying, drinking, the usual—except this was in some kind of club. Sora was in most of them, but Riku appeared in a few of them too, though, while Sora looked like he was smashed, Riku had his usual cool and collected smile plastered on his face.

The pictures got worse. Riku stopped appearing in them, and instead he was replaced with scantily dressed girls, most of who had to be older than Sora. I was so confused. I'd never though parties were Sora's scene. They just weren't. He'd always said…

I swallowed thickly as I finished the last of the photos before moving on to his videos.

It was a mistake.

The first video almost made me want to throw my laptop out the window. It was a video of a drunk Sora, singing a dirty club song at the top of his lungs, much to the appreciation of the cheering crowd. It was manageable to watch, up until he pulled a girl on stage and started dancing with her.

I stopped the video and scrolled to the next ones, the refreshing feeling I'd had all afternoon starting to slip away. Most of them were the same thing—drunk videos of Sora singing stupid songs and doing stupid things…but it was one video that finally made me snap.

If he was drunk, it didn't seem like it, because he knew all the lyrics and sang them perfectly. He looked so relaxed, sitting on stage and singing in front of god-knows-how-many people…

It was the song that got to me, though. The lyrics…it was like they were directed straight at me.

"_You don't really want my heart_

_No you just like to know you can…_"

It was like he had this messed up view of me, like he thought I just wanted him back because I was tired of Riku or something. Like he didn't believe I actually liked him—a lot. He had it in his head that I'd turned into some kind of two-timing bitch, and the fact that I'd randomly jumped him the night before didn't really help my case.

Did he have any idea how this made me look? Why would he post it on Facebook, for god's sake? I didn't even have time to feel sorry for myself, because the bitter feeling from that morning immediately returned. I wanted to rip that stupid smile off his face. I wanted to march over to his house and give him a piece of my mind, for showing me up like that.

But most of all, I wanted him to like me. I wanted him to look at me like he never wanted to take his eyes off me, to bend to my will whenever I asked him to, like he usually did, and to have eyes for me and me only.

And yeah, it did sound a bit selfish, but at that moment I didn't care. I was new to this whole rejection thing. And I hated how it was making me feel.

* * *

Ansem Yoshida announced via email that there was a risk of a massive heat wave, and that he was going to let us come in our own attire until they got the summer uniforms sorted out.

This went perfectly with my plan. It was a diabolical plan and I'd never thought I'd ever stoop to that level, but I had to. Desperate times caused for desperate measures.

I picked out one of the outfits I'd since banished to the back of my wardrobe. They were the outfits Selphie, Vanille or the rest of the girls would pick out for me when they would go shopping—they weren't necessarily revealing, but I'd always been a bit of a prude when it came to dressing up.

It took a lot of willpower to put myself into the outfit I'd picked out. The V-neck yellow halter top, vintage skirt and platform sandals. I'd painted my nails the previous day—bright pink, a color I hated, but it was honestly the only color I owned, since I wasn't really a nail varnish type. I didn't bother cleaning it off; there really wasn't any point. Plus, I'd heard the girls talking about how guys liked pink on girls.

I did my hair in waves and pulled it into a high ponytail, thankful I'd gotten it cut. I wasn't sure what I would have done in this weather if I had long hair. My hair didn't agree with summery weather.

I applied some makeup before finally looking my reflection over, satisfied. I didn't look perfect, but I guess I looked good enough to get some heads turning.

I hadn't quite thought out what I would do if Riku showed up. There was a greater possibility of him skiving of school, but incase he didn't…

I pushed the thoughts of him to the back of my mind yet again. I had to focus on Sora. He was all that mattered now.

An awkward school bus ride later, I arrived at school, and quickly realized that I wasn't the only girl who'd tried to be a bit risqué now that the uniform rule had momentarily disappeared. It was pathetic, really, how far some people went though. Several girls came in tank tops, and the most daring came dressed in crop tops. The guys…their fashion range was limited, but it was now clear who was rich and who wasn't.

Like I'd guessed, I did get a few heads to turn, but I paid them no attention. I had to go find Sora, and—

I was blocked on my way to his locker—Rikku, Vanille and Selphie appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

They squealed.

"I love what you're wearing oh my god!" Vanille was awestruck. "The necklace and thee shoes and…oh em gee, Kairi."

I smiled politely, trying not to show my discomfort. People were starting to stare. "Hah, thanks…um—"

"Why don't you dress like this more often?" Selphie demanded. "You look so much less boring like this!"

I shrugged, knowing she was referring to the several times I'd come to parties in jeans and a t-shirt. I was starting to wish I'd come in a t-shirt and jeans today. "Just thought I'd change things up a little."

"You should come to school like this every day," Rikku suggested.

I just laughed it off; I wasn't so sure about that. The high I'd left the house with had already begun to wear off, and I kept having to resist the urge to check my boobs every five seconds. And the pink was starting to look uglier and uglier each passing second.

Lenne appeared out of nowhere, her caramel-colored hair done in a perfect French braid. Her face looked like it had been airbrushed. She wasn't smiling. "Kairi, where have you been? Why haven't you returned any of my calls? You know you missed Rikku's birthday, right?"

"What—I did'n—ohmigosh Rikku I'm…" I realized she'd gone, and sighed. Great. Now I'd have to apologize the next day. I turned back to Lenne. "Look, I've been busy—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you ended up going off with Riku after all?"

My heart didn't do anything at all at the sound of his name. I decided to play it vague; I really didn't feel like talking about it. "Mm."

A mischievous glint appeared in Lenne's eyes all of a sudden. I decided to change the subject before they could ask any more questions. "Where's Yuna?"

She sighed, tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the screen of her phone as she texted someone. "She's still sick. We went to visit her last week. You didn't pick up."

"Sorry."

"I honestly don't know what to do. We barely have three weeks 'til Nationals and Yuna still can't sing. We might have to forfeit if things don't get better…"

"We'll work something out," I assured her, though I honestly had no idea what we were going to do without Yuna. She did kind of have the best voice in the _Songstresses_.

Shuyin and the boys came over then, though Riku wasn't with them. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

Shuyin planted a kiss on Lenne's forehead. "Hey babe."

"Hey yourself."

Shuyin chuckled while Wakka and Tidus rolled their eyes at them. Then they started kissing so Wakka and Tidus decided to keep my entertained. Well, Wakka did. Tidus seemed irritated for some reason.

I was kind of impatient since I was planning to try and catch Sora at his locker before class started, but I didn't want to seem rude, so I waited patiently to finish telling me about his Spring trip to the Caribbean. He was halfway through telling me about the surf when he suddenly stopped short.

"…what?" I raised an eyebrow at him, absently reaching up to touch my hair in case there was a giant cockroach in it or something. And then Lenne and the rest fell silent, along with everyone else in the hall, and I realized they were all looking at something.

Or someone.

Sora.

I almost didn't recognize him behind the shades and the so-not-Sora outfit and the sex hair and everything. The only way I knew it was him at first was because of his bookbag, which still had the red ribbon sewn into the lining on one of the sides.

He looked even more glorious in the daylight. It was like the Sora I'd gotten used to had been taken away and replaced with this Hollister model—the working out he'd done over break was more obvious now I was actually seeing him and not trying to pin him to a wall or anything.

His skin was a golden tan, his white shirt hugged his form snugly underneath his blazer, and the sand-colored chinos that would on any other person looked retarded just seemed to _work _for him. My heart pounded against my chest, much to my irritation. I felt warm, and it wasn't because of the spring/summer weather either.

He slipped off his shades effortlessly, like he didn't even realize he was making a totally badass movie-type entrance and catching pretty much everyone's attention, including mine.

And then someone gasped, and the hall was filled with an awkward silence…and then just as fast everyone broke into whispers.

Sora looked confused as hell as he walked past all the staring people, but he tried not to make eye contact with anyone. His cheeks were tinted red and I knew why; he had never been the one who liked to be the center of attention.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that _Sora_?" Selphie whispered loudly, hence defeating the whole purpose of whispering in the first place.

"God, I never thought I'd say this, but he actually doesn't look ugly today."

I gave Selphie a small glare, and she shrugged nonchalantly in response. Selphie was one of those weird people who would change her opinions on anything to fit in with the crowd. I had a feeling she didn't want to admit she'd always thought Sora was hot in front of Lenne.

My eyes traveled back to Sora, who was starting to come our way, and I felt my the pounding in my chest accelerate, and I tried to calm myself down and figure out what I'd do if he saw me…

Turned out my all the panicking was for nothing, because he walked right past me without even realizing I was there.

I didn't realize how long I'd been staring at his retreating form until Lenne clapped her hands in front of my face. "Hello? Were you even listening to me?"

"Uh…no, sorry, I was…" I didn't bother lying. 'Excuse me?"

Lenne sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind, it wasn't important."

The bell rang for homeroom then, meaning I'd have to wait until after lunch to see Sora again, which I honestly didn't mind. At least it'd give me a little time to recover from the shock.

* * *

By lunch, everyone was aware of Sora's transformation from an otherwise average-looking guy into a 'grade-A hottie', as some put it. The student body was buzzing about what caused him to finally get a haircut, what he did over the break to get that tan, and all that.

I hadn't had any classes with him yet, but from what I'd observed from afar, Sora seemed oblivious to it all. He still hung out with his friends as he usually did, and he still had that same laugh, and that same smile…underneath his appearance, I could still see traces of the real Sora…and that was comforting, in a way.

He didn't even seem to notice that he was slowly becoming the 'it' figure of the school community, just by prancing into school looking like an Oblivion Magazine model. Especially now that Riku was a no-show, and everyone needed someone to look up to. That was just how our school seemed to work. When the head figure was absent, they moved onto the runner-up.

…no, Riku didn't come to school that day. He was absent, and no one really knew why. I had theories…like maybe he just really didn't want to see me and coming to school would be too hard for him…but I didn't want to flatter myself like that, in case he hadn't shown up for a totally different reason. Maybe he'd just slept in, or something.

All the same, it didn't seem to bother anyone. Everyone in our group carried on as usual, like Riku not being there had never been that much of a deal. And I tried to convince myself that there was no point in me worrying about it, since Riku was nothing to me anymore.

It was easier than I thought.

I finally got to talk to him in Literacy.

He was sitting at his desk, absently rapping his fingers against the table, the way he usually did. I spent a good few minutes just staring at him, wondering how it was possible for someone's _back _to look so attractive.

I took a deep breath before making my way to sit next to him. He visibly stiffened as I took a seat. "Hey, Sora."

He paused in the middle of stroking the lining of his bookbag. "…hey."

I realized he wasn't going to say anything and decided to unpack my bag while trying to think of another way to strike up conversation…and possibly make him look at me, since he had refused to do so so far. I was about to ask him how his holiday went when Aqua walked into the room.

She was almost unrecognizable.

If you'd had Aqua as your teacher, you would have realized a few things: she was the most tidy person on the planet, her hair and makeup were always in perfect order, and she was always in class at least twenty minutes before the first student arrived. She took a lot of pride in her appearance. Pretty much every other female teacher in the school was jealous of how perfect she came off to be.

So seeing her today, coming in relatively late, hair a mess, hardly any makeup on, dark circles under her eyes and oversized dress shirt…it looked so out of place it scared me.

She didn't even bother to say hello. The rest of the class were obviously shocked by her appearance; it wasn't hard to hear them murmuring. Aqua just carried on like she hadn't heard anything, writing on the board in introduction, as usual.

I wasn't sure why, but for some reason I felt like it was my fault. I had a suspicion it had something to do with what she'd told me a while back, about being in love with more than one person…

Maybe something had happened between now and then. Maybe she and Terra…maybe they'd had an argument, or something…

In any other situation, I would have informed Sora of my theory, but it was just too awkward now. I knew Sora was dying to say something as well, but the awkwardness of the situation stopped him, so we remained silent.

We were doing _Wuthering Heights_, and Aqua was giving us some backstory on Emily Bronte and advised us to take notes. Sora had always been bad at spelling, but today it seemed like he was actually trying to be exceptionally bad just to piss me off.

I pushed myself closer to him, feeling him stiffen as our arms brushed. "As much as I'd love to sit here and ignore your horrible spelling, I can't." I hand lingered on his as I retrieved the pencil, carefully watching his expression. I wasn't sure what he was feeling; it was actually hard to describe. I'd thought I'd always been able to read him but…I guess I was wrong.

He did look slightly nervous though, and if I wasn't mistaken—I mean, he was a lot more tanned now—he was blushing. Which was sort of a good thing.

I finished correcting his mistakes, handing him the notebook…and I caught him quickly averting his gaze before mumbling a thanks.

I felt myself smirk. This was going to be fun.

As the class went on, it became pretty obvious that Sora was slightly bothered by my appearance. I was honestly clueless to whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I decided to exploit it either way. I'd watch him stiffen whenever I touched him, and frequently get distracted , and it was hilarious how everything seemed to be playing out in my favor.

And then the bell rang, and Sora didn't hesitate to spring out of his seat, like he was in a hurry to go somewhere.

I stopped him before he could of course, naturally.

"Sora? Hey…" I loosened my grip around his wrist. "You've been avoiding me all day."

"No I haven't," he replied immediately, trying not to avert his gaze.

I shrugged, though I knew he was lying. He had been avoiding me, for whatever reason. Probably because of what he'd said before…when he'd inadvertently rejected me. It kind of irked me.

Just for the sake of it, I reached up to fix his collar, letting my hands graze his perfect collarbones… "See you after school, then?"

He stared at me with an unreadable expression.

And then he started to frown…and I knew I'd gone too far.

He slipped my arm off his shoulder, firmly but gently, with a face that clearly showed how uninterested he was. I tried make it seem like it was just an innocent gesture.

His expression switched back to neutral. "Um, actually…I can't hang out with you after school. Got work."

"…work?" I felt pretty hurt that he hadn't told me he'd gotten a job before now, to be honest. I just couldn't see Sora _working_. "You mean you got a job?"

"Yes" Sora didn't smile, which was disappointing, to say the least. "See you around then, Kairi."

And with that, he turned on his heels and left me there looking like an absolute idiot.

* * *

I had a feeling things were about to get a lot more complicated from now on.

* * *

**...#BlameNiall**

**Sorry for the late updates once again…finishing this chapter at like 4 am…I'm serious. Currently in Florida, chilling in the hotel. I should be going to bed but I needed to upload this first. #Dedication**

**BEEN SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON THE TWITTER VIBES MAAAN. **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_Penelo that's amazing!"_

"_He dumped you?"_

"_Stay away from my sister."_

"_Come on, Sora."_

"_I am _not _jealous."_

* * *

…**YEAAAAH.**

**R&R…and all that. MUAH MUAH love you guize. **


	30. Lightning

**A/N: So by the time I' finally post this I'll probably be done with my finals or some shizzle…idk.**

**About this chappie: This and that happen…and stuff. (lol vagueness ftw)**

**Disclaimer: OH HOW I WISH**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sora's back…and we kind of make out…_

I couldn't believe I'd just marched up to Sora's house and started furiously making out with him.

_Sora's pissed._

"Well I think it is, Kairi. I don't want to be the other guy, and I don't want to be your rebound either. And if you don't think it's that serious, then maybe we should just stick to being friends."

_Rejection sucks._

I wanted to rip that stupid smile off his face. I wanted to march over to his house and give him a piece of my mind, for showing me up like that.

_And now we're avoiding each other, and everything's awkward…_

* * *

**Chapter 30: Lightning**

Lenne couldn't make it to Glee club that afternoon, since she apparently had a date with Shuyin. I didn't think that counted as a valid excuse, but I couldn't exactly say anything about it either.

The rest were all there, but they all stopped talking when I walked in the room. I suddenly felt uncomfortable in my low-cut top, and wished I'd brought a T-shirt or something.

"Hey…" Penelo was the first to speak up.

"Hey." I took a seat next to her, in between her and Olette. "So Yuna's still sick…"

"Yeah, we went to visit her during break, all of us did." Penelo tugged on one of her braids. "But…you weren't…"

"Sorry, I had some things…" I let the sentence trail off and decided to drop it. "So what did I miss?"

"Well…while you were away we thought maybe we could figure out possible songs for Nationals…"

"Come up with anything?"

"Um…" Penelo seemed unsure.

Olette shrugged. "Just a little…though we were kind of waiting for you since…you know." She turned to Penelo. "Come on, show her."

Penelo hesitated. And then she signaled to Serah and Marlene to start the intro. The hummed in acapella, making a small soothing tune, and then Olette joined in.

"_I came to win, to fly, to conquer, to thrive…_"

I somehow recognized the song—'Fly' by Nicki Minaj. Penelo handled the rapping part, while the rest of the girls did the background and acapella. It was impressive to say the least, though they obviously still needed a bit of work since they still sounded a little weak.

I'd started clapping before they were even done. "Wow…Penelo that's amazing! What did Yuna and Lenne think?"

"Um…" Penelo hesitated. "They haven't exactly heard it yet. Lenne's got us working on this other song she picked, but we kind of came up with this on our own because we thought it'd suit your voice…"

"…and she wanted to try out rapping like you suggested," Serah finished for her, sending her a look. "We did try contacting you during the break but…"

"Yeah sorry. I was…busy." I opted to dodge any upcoming questions by changing the subject. "So Lenne and Yuna haven't heard it yet huh…? Well we'll just have to continue working behind their backs until we've perfected it and they have no choice but to let us go through with it."

They all seemed to like that.

The therapist looked surprised when I showed up looking brighter than I had in ages. She must have been baffled. I'd been brooding the whole week and now I looked like I'd just stepped out of a fashion commercial or something.

My mood was always worse whenever I went to see Arecia. I was still mad at my Mum for making me go there. Mondays and Thursdays, she said. I'd gotten almost used to her phony smile and calculating gaze. I self-consciously tugged on my skirt. It felt so much shorter now that I wasn't trying to impress anybody. The only person I was making uncomfortable now was myself.

Arecia nodded. "You look gorgeous."

"Thank you."

She cleared her throat at my emotionless reply. "So…how was school today?"

"Good," I replied monotonously.

"Anything you'd like to talk about? Anyone…in particular?"

Something in her tone made me realize she knew a lot more than I thought she did. And it irked me. "What…no…"

"Riku?"

I felt my heart thump painfully at the mention of his name. I pressed my lips together, trying to calm myself down enough to come up with an appropriate answer. "He…who told you about him?"

She gave me a small smile. "I'm sorry, your parents told me…he's your boyfriend, right?"

I frowned. "You can't just ask my parents about my personal life. It's none of your business—"

"Actually Kairi, it kind of is." Arecia sighed. "I am trying to help you, but you aren't exactly cooperating."

I tried glaring at her a bit more, but it was hard. She did kind of have a point, as hard as it was to admit it. I sighed. "He's…my ex…boyfriend. We kind of broke up right before the spring break."

"Oh…care to tell me why?"

I shook my head.

She nodded. "That's okay." She paused. "Sorry if it seems like I'm prying, but…who dumped who?"

"I…he dumped me. I think."

"Hmm. Break ups. You have no idea how many girls break ups have pushed over the brink." Arecia gave me a sympathetic smile. "You seemed to have taken it pretty hard, huh?"

I remained silent. She thought I'd been depressed just because Riku had broken up with me. That was part of it, but mostly it was because of all the clustered burdens I had to carry. With Riku and Namine. And the fact that Sora hadn't been there.

I closed up for the rest of the session. I didn't want her delving in any further.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The week went on, and people's general attitude towards Sora began to change.

Lenne, Rikku and the rest of the guys at our table continued ignoring his existence unless it was absolutely necessary to acknowledge him. The bubbly cheer duo (Vanille and Selphie) who'd been sort of pals with Sora ever since before the Winter Bash, only increased the time they spent with him. They both seemed to have developed some sort of crush on him, though I was sure none of it was all that serious. The difference now, though, was that instead of calling him cute, they'd started to call him 'sexy'.

I didn't blame them. He did kind of look, admittedly, hot as hell now, with the makeover and the stylish new clothes that had sprouted out of nowhere. Ever since I'd rid him of the stupid 'curse' he'd been afflicted with before I came along and helped Riku change his attitude toward him, Sora had developed quite a few admirers. But now, now the number of girls who I'd heard professing their 'love' for him in the bathroom stalls and during Sports and in the cafeteria lines…now it was just getting ridiculous. It was disgusting, really—before they'd barely acknowledged his existence and I'd heard them calling him names a lot more than once.

But I should have expected this, anyway. The female population of Destiny College mostly consisted of shallow, bitter girls who's lives revolved around keeping up with the latest fads and hooking up with the hottest guys and keeping up with the gossip. Here, education came second and social status came first. I'd heard rumors of teachers getting bribed and paid off to let students pass.

But I generally tried to close my ears to things like that, and just focus on not getting on anybody's bad side, and being nice to everyone I could, because I'd made it this far without letting them influence me…at least not to the point where I forgot who I was.

The girls would flirt relentlessly with Sora, and by day two he'd already started to flirt back. It was sickening, really. Sora had never been a flirt, and I'd never thought he was even capable of flirting without making a big fool of himself, but now he was grinning and winking and laughing and saying things I'd never imagined I'd hear him say. And the girls were lapping it up voraciously.

Sora was, for the time being, the new Riku.

No, Riku didn't show up for the rest of the week. No one really knew where he was. I had ideas, but I kept my mouth shut.

Apparently Riku had skived off a bunch of times in the past, but never alone, is what his friends said. I'd felt the urge in Drama to go up to Sephiroth and ask him, but I knew that was ridiculous. Whenever I tried to attempt to call him, I'd freak out and shrink away and cut off the call before it even finished dialing. I wasn't sure I could face him just yet. I was still, admittedly, sort of mad at him…but most of all worried.

And I couldn't talk about any of this with anyone, because Sora and I…we were at war. No one really knew that we were, actually, except the two of us.

We'd act like we were still best friends, meeting each other at our lockers, sitting next to each other in class, saying hi, doing things we usually did…but it wasn't the same. The whole ambiance between us…it didn't feel like it had before. Before, being in his presence had always made me feel carefree, happy, warm, comfortable…now whenever I saw him there was the sexual tension, and I had to remind myself more than once to breath when he was talking to me.

But I'd had to have been blind not to see I was affecting Sora as well. My new style of clothing was obviously distracting for him, now that he wasn't just seeing me in my clunky school uniform anymore. The heat wave warning was still in effect, after all, until the end of the week, so I was free to try out the stupid outfits at the back of my wardrobe. (They literally made me cringe, but I had to admit that once I put them on and looked in the mirror, I didn't look half bad. And they did make me look skinnier, and show off all the extra pounds I'd lost since Radiant Garden. I was lucky I'd been stopped before the binge eating had gotten any worse.)

He started to change his tactics on Wednesday morning, when he started flirting and replying back to girls instead of ignoring them or sheepishly saying thank you. And I admit, it did irritate me a little, and I thought of fighting back, doing the same thing, flirting with random guys just to spite him, but then I remembered that everyone still thought I was dating Riku. If they weren't already judging me for the obvious tension between Sora and I, I was sure as hell they would if I started flirting around.

So all I could do was watch, keep it all bottled up and pretend it didn't bother me.

* * *

Thursday. We'd just finished an hour of Health—formerly SexEd—and were on our way to Drama. We refused to address the elephant in the room and therefore worked on pretending we were comfortable with each other and weren't thinking of kissing each other dry.

…or maybe that was just me, thinking that way. Sora had pretty much stopped showing any signs of being bothered by my appearance, especially now that he'd started checking out pretty much every girl in school. I'd put on the simplest outfit today for that reason—a summery floral dress and sandals, with little to no makeup. It was only getting hotter and makeup was only a nuisance, after all, in this weather.

The silence was cut through when Sora bumped into someone—a little brunette girl, probably a freshman, with a killer blush.

Her eyes widened when she looked up at him and realized who she'd bumped into, letting out an irritating giggle as she let out his name. I'd already started to decide I didn't like her. "Um, my…" She started twirling one of her curls around her index finger. She was trying so hard to be cute it wasn't even funny. "I've been tr-trying to—"

"We kind of have class right now…?" I grabbed Sora's hand instinctively. I didn't want to have to see this. "We're really sorry, but—"

And then Sora cut me off. "Kairi, why don't you go on ahead?"

I stared at Sora. He shrugged in response. "I mean, you don't want to be late for class, right?" His lips tilted in an unreadable smile. "Don't let us keep you waiting; I'll catch you later."

I glanced at the girl, who'd let out a tiny, mischievous grin. Ugh. I wanted to punch her so bad.

My eyes traveled back to Sora, taking in his nonchalant expression, his hands in his pockets, one of his eyebrows raised in an expression that was so damn sexy it actually hurt.

Ugh. I didn't need this anyway. I didn't need to watch him pointlessly flirt with this, this _baby._ "Fine."

Sephiroth was doing the register when I arrived. I tried to calm myself down in Drama, to forget about the fact that _Sora _was chatting up some freshman girl, and just focus on class or whatever. We were done with the script and all that was left was freshening up the choreography, stage business and the costumes, which were coming in that weekend. The play had been set to be performed the first week of June, a week before the finals. I tried to join in the conversation with the rest of the girls, but my mind wouldn't stay in one place, and I'd keep glancing at the double doors, waiting for Sora to burst through any second…

He eventually did, his face not betraying any emotion. He waited for Sephiroth to finish marking him down as late before starting to head back to his group of friends, but I stopped him before he could get there.

"Hey."

He blinked at me. "…hey?"

"Um…" I cleared my throat, trying to think of an excuse to get him isolated. "…why don't we go over our lines?"

He looked slightly quizzical, but he shrugged anyway and followed me to the far end of the studio, where it was much quieter and people weren't mucking about and making noise.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Which scene do you want to rehearse? I mean, I was pretty sure we'd gotten all of this down, but whatev—"

"You know that's not what I called you here for."

He couldn't have been that dumb. He knew as well as I did what I meant, but he decided to be an asshole and pretend he didn't. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't give me that," I snapped. "You know I'm talking about that…the girl."

He rolled his eyes. "Right."

"…so?" I tried not to show how irritated that action made me feel. "What happened with her?"

"Well…she asked me out."

My heart skipped a beat. The way he said it, so nonchalant, like it was nothing. Like he got asked out every day. It made me want to punch him. I'd hardly even considered the possibility that someone would ask out _Sora_…and it irked me.

"And…? What did you say? You didn't say yes, did you?"

Sora cocked an eyebrow. "So what if I did?"

I stared at him trying to figure out if he was serious or not. He _couldn't_ be serious. Sora just didn't…_hook up _with people. "…you don't even _know _her."

"Well the goal of dating is getting to know someone, after all."

"B-but…" I was stammering now, at loss for words. He was right, as much as I hated to admit it. But something was just wrong. "But you…you always said…she's…"

He just grinned at me, but it did nothing to calm my mood. His smile was undeniably aggravating and I didn't know why.

I pressed my lips together in a straight line. "You're not serious about this, are you?"

"So what if I am?"

"She's a _freshman_."

"Age is just a number."

"Yeah, and a jail cell is just a room."

Sora just laughed at my reply, and I felt my nails dig into my palms. "Whoa…you're being way too over-the-top about this. What's wrong, Kairi?"

And then he did something I'd never expected him to do. Ever.

He leaned in closer, so that our faces were so close I could almost brush my nose with his, and I could smell his peppermint scent hidden under layers of cologne. He was smiling, a cruel, mocking smile. "…_jealous_?"

And that's when I lost it.

I slapped him. Straight across the cheek, with a ferocity I didn't even know I had in me. My heart was thumping so fast I was almost scared it was going to jump right out of my chest.

My whole body felt warm. I was pissed. So, so pissed off. I hated the way he made me want to rip everything to shreds, that stupid smug look on his face, his stupid perfect hair and perfect face and perfect smile and how he made me want to burn him in acid. I hated how he was making me feel, how he was toying with me and messing with my head.

And who did he think he was, assuming shit like he knew what he was talking about?

"**I am **_**not**_**jealous.**"

I took my leave then, storming out of the classroom, having to resist the urge to scream at everything in sight.

* * *

As if Sora wasn't bad enough, I ran into Roxas in the hallways.

He was dressed in ripped jeans and a stupid _Ramones _t-shirt that hugged his build and though he wasn't wearing any of his dark makeup he still freaked the hell out of me. I could smell the smoke on his breath. I didn't even attempt to hide my disgust.

"Go away," I mumbled, trying to talk past him, but he grabbed my arm before I could get anywhere.

"Wait, Kairi." I froze in his grasp, my whole body shuddering at his touch, like it always did whenever someone held me without my permission. "I need to talk to you."

I wasn't in the mood for listening. "Leave me alone, I don't want to talk to you okay."

Roxas sighed. "Look, can you just tell me where Namine is?"

That did _nothing _to help my mood. He was the reason she'd gone AWOL on us. He's the one who'd fucking _gotten her pregnant_. To think he had the audacity to even…

"No," I hissed. "_**No way in hell **_I am telling you where—ugh. Just…you disgust me."

He looked confused for a split-second, and then his frown deepened. "Can you stop being such a bitch and get over yourself? I've never done anything to you or any of the prissy hoebags you hang out with."

I held back a scream. I wanted to rip out his hair. He and his brother…I was just sick of his stupid family. "Just stay _away_ from my sister, you got that?"

I marched away before he could stop me.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"I can't _stand _him!" I groaned that evening in therapy. I knew I'd kind of sworn myself not to say anything to the stupid lady, but I was so frustrated from keeping it all in and I felt like I was going to cry if I didn't vent it out on someone. And since therapy was right after school…yeah.

Arecia listened quietly with that same neutral expression she'd obviously been trained to keep, and I was sort of thankful she let me vent until I was done. I must have ranted for almost half an hour or so. I started off talking about how Sora had turned into an utter douchebag but eventually strayed and started complaining about school in general and relationships and parents and glee club and grades and parties and sex.

Then I remembered who I was talking to and I stopped myself before I could get any further.

"Hm, seems like you've got a lot going on right now," Arecia observed. "Maybe that's what it was. Exhaustion."

She had a point. School was burning me out—keeping straight-As wasn't easy—and it was even harder when I had Sora and Riku and my stupid pregnant little sister to worry about.

I didn't want to tell her about any of that. It wasn't her business, anyway. I cleared my throat. "Arecia…what…what do you think I should do?"

"Hm? About Sora?" She let out a small smile. "You say he's been your best friend…for how long?"

"Since late September…that's when we met." It was kind of weird, when I thought about it, knowing I'd barely known him for less than a year. Sometimes it felt like we'd been friends since kindergarten.

"And you just recently started to realize you had feelings for him…?" She nodded slowly. "And your boyfriend, Riku, noticed and dumped you, which neither of you seem to have taken so well."

I lowered my gaze. "Um…I guess…" It was weird how she'd deduced all this from all my inane ramblings. "I don't know what's going on with him, actually…he kind of just disappeared after he—" I made myself pause, my skin bristling slightly. "He obviously doesn't want to see me."

"Do you want to see him?"

I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat. I honestly didn't know. I didn't know what I'd say to him. I had to admit, I was kind of angry and him for losing his temper because I didn't want to have sex with him, but…I knew it was kind of my fault, and he was going through a lot too…

"Kairi…has he ever tried to force you into doing anything…?"

I knew what she was hinting at, but I forced steeled my face, trying to look neutral. "I'd rather talk about something else," I replied carefully.

She seemed to get it, nodding slowly before leaning forward and clasping her hands together, giving me a warm smile. Or at least it looked warm. It was probably forced, but it looked convincing. "Well, back on the subject of Sora then. You've known him for quite a while…you really think he'd change into someone else so quickly?"

"I…I don't know…" I hesitated. "I don't think this is a phase. He's never…been like this…"

"Well from what I understand, he seems to be just confused. Just wait a little more, maybe he'll come around." She smiled. "I don't know much about relationships, I've never been in one myself."

I stared at her, shocked. "Really?" She nodded, but I still didn't believe her. "How? You're not hideous…" Actually she looked like she could have been gorgeous behind creepy glasses and intimidating way of dressing and the fact that she was a therapist but I didn't want to admit that, I didn't want to creep her out.

Arecia let out a little laugh. "Thanks. I don't know why I haven't found someone, to be honest. But it's fine, I'm too busy for relationships anyway."

I mentally made a note to help her find a potential marriage mate, because that's what I did. Play matchmaker.

* * *

I was in a better mood the next morning. I realized there honestly wasn't any point in harboring a grudge against him. I hadn't forgotten what he'd done, but I honestly didn't know what I could do to make him pay.

So I decided to just try and forget about it, putting on one of my casual outfits. I was honestly getting tired of having to deck myself in makeup every morning and thought I'd try the more natural look.

Neither Roxas, Namine or Riku were there in Art that morning. I didn't really care about Roxas, since I was trying to avoid the idiot anyway, but Namine and Riku…they'd been absent since the resume of the school term and it worried me. Especially Namine…if she was with her creepy boyfriend and he'd found out…

He just gave off a cruel aura, and I knew I hated him, even though we'd barely had one encounter…in which he felt me up and almost kissed me and—ugh I wanted to forget about it.

We had to work in pairs, so I took a seat next to Sora, just because. We were doing portraits, and since I knew Sora was hopeless at art I volunteered to start first.

It was obvious Sora was trying to avoid talking to me. Probably because I was confusing him, especially after the way I'd left the last time we'd spoken. He was trying to figure me out, and it honestly annoyed me a little.

I tried not to let it show, though. "So…what's up?" I heard him shrug. He wasn't going to answer. "Well I went out shopping this weekend…with my Mom." I gestured to my outfit, a simple top and shorts. "You like?" He just nodded, which irked me. I gave him a little shove. "Come on, say something, you're being boring."

He started talking again then, a bit tense and unsure at first but eventually opening up and telling me about his break. He told me about Pascal and about his parents and how well they were doing and about Roxas being all over the place and I thought of telling him about Namine but I decided against it and just listened to him talk. And for a while it was just like old times and I almost completely forgot I was supposed to be mad at him.

And then I remembered how he didn't tell me about Seventh Heaven and all those girls he'd made out with and the anger started to rise once again.

I tried to push it to the back of my mind as the day went on, even though I knew I'd been inwardly thinking of a way to get him back since the previous afternoon.

We'd just finished Lunch, we were at Sora's locker, about to head to our next class, and Lenne, Rikku and Yuna had come over to say hi. Yuna still had bronchitis, but she could get out of bed now at least. She just couldn't talk as much, and her throat was swollen.

Rikku was going on about how much I missed at her party—apparently she'd found another guy and was over her old boyfriend or whatever and plus he was hot, so I guess I had to be happy for her. At least it meant less moaning.

"Speaking of birthdays…" Rikku nudged me. "…it's your birthday come Monday, right?"

I felt myself tense. I'd been trying to forget, and I'd hoped everyone else had forgotten as well. "Yeah…yeah it is."

"Awesome!" Rikku clapped her hands, her face lighting up. Rikku was always cheerful when she wasn't being a bitch. "So…what're you planning?"

I hesitated. "Well…I wasn't actually planning on doing anything to be honest…maybe just go out for a drink with my Mom or…"

It was obvious from the looks on their faces that that wasn't what people did in Destiny Islands.

Yuna frowned. "Ew."

"You're kidding, right?" Lenne scoffed. "You can't just do _nothing _for your _birthday_."

"So lame," Rikku agreed, pouting. They were all judging me, it was obvious, from the looks they were giving me.

I hated it. Because I'd spent two whole years being judged by everyone around me, and it gave me that stupid twisting feeling at the pit of my stomach…I tried to think of something, anything…

That's when I remembered. Sora had told me that morning that his parents were out of town for the weekend. Which meant his house was free, once again. For, like, a house party…

Now recent events proved that Sora wasn't a stranger to partying, but I knew he'd never host a house party of his own. I also knew he was kind of intimidated by my friends and that he wouldn't say no if I asked him the favor in front of them.

It was decided. I could stop the accusing stares and get back at Sora for his douchebaggery at once.

I felt myself smile. Talk about kill two birds with one stone.

I put on my most convincing smile. "…Sora, your parents are out of town this weekend, right?"

He stared right back at me, incredulous, like he couldn't believe I'd just asked him to host a party. Like he'd honestly thought I was better than that.

I kept the creeping feeling of guilt at bay with a careful smile. He hesitated, glancing between me and the rest of the girls, calculating something in his head. His cheeks were flushed, and I wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment or if it was just because of the killer heat.

He scratched the back of his head. "Um…yes, they are out of town, but…"

"Please?" Rikku whined, using the fact that she was a girl in a tank top to her advantage. "We'll only invite a few friends! And we'll be gone before your parents get back, promise!"

"Uh…"

She pouted. "Do it for Kairi?"

He was wilting, it was obvious. He gave me a look, sighed, and gave in. "Well I guess I have no option."

* * *

News about the party spread like wildfire, and by the end of the day, it seemed like everyone was going to be there. The boys had already arranged what they were bringing, speakers and alcohol and all that. The usual.

It was only once I'd gotten home, after cheer practice, after an eventless session of glee club, that I realized what I'd gotten myself into.

A house party. There was going to be a fucking house party hosted for me, for my birthday.

I didn't want to start thinking. I knew what'd happen if I started thinking. My sixteenth had taught me that much. I'd spent it cooped up in my bedroom, screaming into my pillow as the nightmares replayed themselves, over and over, throwing up in the toilet until there was nothing left and I was just gagging spit and bile and stomach acid, my throat burning, goosebumps rising all over my skin, tremling hands, shivering…

I hated being reminded that it was my birthday. My body seemed to trigger a reaction as soon as it knew my birthday was approaching, but I was determined not to think about the past. I reasoned that maybe if I immersed myself in the environment, pretended I was just any other normal teenage girl on her birthday, maybe I'd actually believe I was, and I'd subconsciously forget that It had ever happened. And be able to enjoy my birthday. Maybe.

It didn't sound that hard, to be honest.

My Dad had flown to Africa a few days prior, for his work, and Mom had a night shift, which was only too convenient. She promised she'd be back before eight the next morning, though, which gave us plenty of time.

I took a shower, brushed my teeth, did my hair. I pulled on a black elastic skirt I'd gotten years ago, pulling it up to my midriff so it came off as a high-rise. I picked up a top I'd sworn I'd never wear and pulled it on.

I decked my face in makeup and slipped into those outrageous yet cute heels and decided I was ready to go.

Apparently my outfit pleased the girls. I couldn't really remember any of their compliments. I was focusing almost too hardly on keeping my thoughts in the present, stopping them from straying, as they were so tempted to.

Sora's house, Saturday evening, ten thirty p.m. The party was raging.

Alcohol was in abundance. The loud music made the floor vibrate. Couples were making out in every nook and cranny and everyone was basically having a blast.

I'd had a few drinks myself. The room was spinning but I didn't care. Everything just felt so light. I danced with several people, I lost count. Some of them were girls, most of them were guys. Every time I'd feel my thoughts beginning to stray, I'd take another chug of whatever it was I had in my glass.

I'd look around for Sora. I'm not sure what it was I wanted from him. A reaction, probably. I'd probably been hoping he'd come over, say _something_, anything. I'd see him in the sea of bodies, dancing, drinking, laughing, doing his own thing, looking like he was on top of the world. And I'd unconsciously try and match him, retaliate by dancing with one more random guy, taking one more chug, laughing at the top of my lungs.

* * *

As in every high school party, there eventually came a time for party games. Our group broke off from the rest of the party and somehow ended up in the guest room. There was probably a dozen or so of us, I was too buzzed to count. It was some kind of combination of Never Have I Ever and Truth or Dare.

It started with innocent questions, like "Never have I ever…been kissed", one at which everyone in the room took a chug. (Even Sora. Though that was obvious.) Then the questions started to get dirtier. The questions got dirtier and so did the increasing dares. But for some reason I felt weightless. Like, it still hadn't occured to me that I was in a house party on my seventeeth birthday. Unsupervised.

I tried to keep my eyes on Sora though, to see how he was, and to be honest I was kind of surprised when I realized how unaffected he seemed to be by the whole thing. He'd chug when necessary and laugh at people's jokes and holler and taunt like any other guy at that party…for the first time since I'd met him, he seemed to actually fit into the scene.

The questions got dirtier and dirtier, the bottle was spun a lot more often, and the dares went from saucy to downright porn in a matter of minutes.

I'd thankfully been able to avoid the bottle, and so had Sora…up until it finally landed on him.

Some girl I vaguely recognized clapped her hands together in glee, like she'd been waiting for this moment. "Hmm…I dare you…Seven Minutes in Heaven with that girl!"

_That girl_ a.k.a me, I came to realize.

My eyes found Sora's blue ones, staring right back at me, seemingly frozen in place. I shrugged and go to my feet, expecting him to follow me into the closet. That's what Seven Minutes In Heaven was, right? I felt strangely nonchalant about the whole thing. Just seven minutes in the closet. Alone. Together.

The door shut, muffling the music coming from outside. It was dark, with a little light pouring in from the crack. Perfect.

I moved closer to him, aiming to kiss him, but I was interrupted when he started talking. _Talking_.

"So…um. This is…awkward. So…we have to stay in here for seven minutes right? Cool. Um—"

I tried to find his face in the darkness, hoping I could shut him up. His breathing hitched and he stopped trying to make conversation when I found his face, cradling it with my hands. I wasn't sure what was louder—the beat of his heart or the thumping music.

I must have initiated the kiss.

It was a sloppy, drunken kiss, heated and intense. I was in a daze, the heat spreading to my lungs and through my veins and into every fiber of my being—I could taste _him_ and I could feel his tongue and his bare skin and his messy spiky hair and everything was spinning and I was tumbling and I—

"Kairi…"

I honestly had no idea how he thought groaning my name was supposed to make me calm down. It did the exact opposite.

I wanted to kiss him, I wanted to rip off his stupid shirt and I didn't even know why and it almost scared me.

I tried to ignore his attempts to pull away but Sora was being such an annoying whining baby I eventually snapped.

"What?" I was breathless and my lips felt sore, which didn't help with my mood at all.

"I…I don't think…" He had that stupid look in his eyes—like a kid who'd been caught opening Christmas presents early—that guilt-ridden tone in his voice, like he thought he was betraying someone by kissing me. "…we should…"

I was sick of it all. I honestly couldn't understand where the horny sex maniac from all those stupid Seventh Heaven pictures had disappeared to. I just wanted to kiss the living daylights out of him and I couldn't comprehend why he didn't want to do the same.

"Ugh, what is _wrong _with you?"

"Wh…what—"

"You like me, don't you?" I'd started to plead. I was no longer in control of what I was saying. Everything was coming out in a drawl. "You kissed me back. You like it when I kiss you, don't you? Or am I just not a good kisser—"

He shook his head profusely. "No! No it's…it's not that…"

"Then what is it?" I wanted to slap him. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"Maybe because I'm confused as fuck here and you're not giving me any answers."

The frustration slowly began to fade, the heated feeling starting to drain…and I started to realize Sora's tight grip on my arms, the stuffy closet we were in, the almost nonexistent personal space…

I was starting to suffocate.

I mumbled some sort of dismissal and broke myself from his grasp, storming out of the closet, out of the room.

It wasn't any better in the living room. The music was louder, the room even stuffier. The heat from outside was barely stifled by the weak air conditioning, but no one seemed to care. Everyone was having too much fun.

And suddenly amongst the mass of sweaty bodies I began to notice things. The group of daring drunks trying to get high, sniffing some kind of substance, smoking weed, thickening the air in the already stuffy room, the hormonal couples practically inhaling each other on the walls, on the couches, on the kitchen counters, anywhere they could find. The masses of bodies grinding against each other, the grabbing arms, the husky laughs, the moans—

Suddenly I realized where I was. In a freaking high school house party. With alcohol, and drugs, and—and _guys—_

I needed air.

I stumbled through the throngs of people, trying to find my way to the front door, to anywhere with fresh air. I found myself in Sora's garden, and I took a huge gulp of air, trying to stop myself from hyperventilating.

The weightless feeling from earlier had completely disappeared. I was dizzy, I felt sick. I couldn't believe I'd thought it was a good idea to surround myself with everything I'd been trying to forget…on my freaking birthday.

I was starting to shiver. It wasn't even cold. Someone had left a cup of some drink next to Pascal's burrow. I took it. I was thirsty, plus I needed something to keep my hands busy.

I was trying to evaluate my options, to calm down and figure out a way to get out of the stupid party without anyone noticing, when the door slid open.

"Kairi…"

And—oh god no. It was Sora. He refused to leave me alone. "Kairi—"

"Go away."

He was frustrated. "I need some answers, Kairi. None of this is making sense. You rejected me before and said—"

I shook my head. "But that was then, this is now, can't you just forget about it? God!"

He was persistent. "No, I need to know what happened between you and Riku."

_Riku_. I'd been trying to forget he existed, to forget that we ever happened, and Sora had to fucking bring it up again. "We…"

"You what? _What _happened."

I took a deep breath, composing myself. "I've told you already, we broke up—"

"Why though? I mean, you and Riku—"

"I don't want to talk about it, Sora."

"Well I don't care. I'm talking to you about it anyway." He crossed his arms. His eyebrows were furrowed, a look a mix between confusion and worry. "Something about this whole thing doesn't make sense. You guys pretty much had your tongues down each others' throats and now you're just breaking up?"

"Yes, Sora." I needed to find a way to shut him up. I must have attempted to kiss him again, because my arms found their way around the back of his neck and he was shaking his head.

The alcohol plus the fact that I'd been rejected for the umpteenth time kind of pushed me over the edge. "Why are you being such a douche, honestly?"

He was yelling. "Well you're not telling me what happened, are you? I'm not just some pushover, I'm not going to just bend over backwards for you—"

"—He _hit _me, okay?"

…I said it. I told him.

And it felt like the world—everything around me—was crashing down at that very moment, as I watched Sora's expression move from shock, to confusion, to fear… "No…you can't…what—?"

"I…I-It was—he got mad at me and h-he wanted to leave and I tried to slap him and then he—he—" My words were running into each other, I'd started to hiccup, and I was pretty sure nothing I was saying was making any sense whatsoever. "I didn't want to…I just couldn't…it's j-just his hands were everywhere and he didn't want to stop and I pushed him away and—I can't, nothing's been the same ever since my fifteenth birthday, and I hate it, it's ruining my life, it would have been perfect if I didn't—I'm—"

"What? Kairi…slow down…what…what happened on your fifteenth…?"

I hesitated.

For a second.

And then everything just came tumbling out.

I told him about the party. I vaguely remembered what I said, even. All I know is that I told him, everything, and the look that Sora gave me afterwards…it was that jumbled mass of confusion, fear, anger and then…

I knew it was coming. That look. Full of _pity_.

And I didn't want to be there to see it. I couldn't take it anymore. Everything was tumbling down in front of my eyes and burning up in cold flames. I felt like I was about to throw up. The world was spinning and I knew if I didn't get out of there soon I would completely break down…in front of everyone. "I…I think I should go."

"Wait—"

But I didn't listen to him.

I pushed myself through the throngs of people and ran.

* * *

**So I thought maybe I should end it here. It seemed more appropriate and plus I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN MORE THAN THREE WEEKS THIS CANNOT BECOME A COMMON OCCURRENCE. **

**So yeah I'm on holiday except umm my school needed to take my laptop away for 'maintenance'…so yeah now I'm using my mom's laptop and dat aint cool. :P But oh well. At least I'm not immobile. **

**Apologize is next, and then Addicted…I'm writing them both at the same time so the updates will come along faster. You guys deserve so much more. ALMOST 600 REVIEWS ON ADDICTED I LITERALLY CANNOT EVEN. **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_I brought coffee."_

"_Don't ever change."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_You coward."_

"_I'm scared."_

* * *

**Badum dum dum. **

**Watch out for new updates. Trust me, as much as I love my second fandom (1D), this fandom will forever be my first. i.e. nothing will stop me from updating. EVUR. **

**Please keep in mind this is unedited and may have multiple errors. I have freaking summer school Algebra tomorrow and I need to go to bed before my Dad catches me and seizes this laptop. Peaceskies. :)**

**P.S: omg this site is getting cooler and cooler IMAGES OMG! Anyone have any submissions? :) Rn I'm borrowing Annria2002's art...DISCLAIM TOTALLY BTW! :) **


	31. Complicated

**A/N: So summer school is coming to an end, yeah? Next week I FINALLY start my holiday…which means less updates…**

**To be honest I update faster DURING school, like that even makes any sense lol. **

**This is going to be a pretty bipolar chapter to be honest, brace yourselves. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own nothing.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sora's back and in action._

The girls would flirt relentlessly with Sora, and by day two he'd already started to flirt back.

_Roxas is still on the rocks with my sister._

"Just stay _away_ from my sister, you got that?"

_I stupidly through myself a party._

I was dizzy, I felt sick. I couldn't believe I'd thought it was a good idea to surround myself with everything I'd been trying to forget…on my freaking birthday.

_And end up telling Sora everything. _

I told him about the party…I knew it was coming. That look. Full of pity.

* * *

**Chapter 31: Complicated**

I burst through the doors of my bedroom and slammed it closed behind me, my shaking hands fumbling with the lock. My throat felt tight and I felt like I was about to throw up. It took all my strength to peel off my ridiculous heels and when I finally managed to I was so frustrated that I threw them across the room. I felt dizzy and sick and my eyes burned and everything just felt _wrong_.

I stumbled to the bathroom and attempted to puke but nothing came out except my choked sobs. I glimpsed my blurred reflection in the mirror, how pathetic I looked. I looked an absolute mess, inside and out.

I eventually got fed up and stumbled back into my room, falling onto my bed and screaming into my pillow. My screams eventually turned into more short, choked, silent sobs, but before I knew it I was full out bawling.

My hands found the stupid necklace Riku had given me; I hadn't taken it off once ever since then. Not like it had even been that long. I actually couldn't believe we'd barely lasted a month together before I ruined everything.

I felt alone and scared and sad and angry. I was just tired of it all—holding everything in—and now I'd let Sora know and now he knew about my stupid problems. It was probably the stupidest thing I'd ever done. Sora didn't need to know about that. He didn't deserve to know. I didn't want him having to carry that burden around with him and I'd never even wanted him to know that had happened to me in the first place. I didn't want his pity, I didn't want him to feel the need to be cautious around me whenever we spoke again, I didn't want him to think I was weak and silly and unable to take care of myself.

I certainly felt that way then, though. I couldn't stop shaking and all the crying was giving me a headache and I felt completely lost. I hid my necklace under my pillow—it honestly wasn't helping anything that I was wearing it anyway.

I was still sobbing into my pillow when I heard a knock on the door, and I froze abruptly, my mind running at fifty miles per hour. For a second I thought it was my parents, but then I remembered they were both away and that was impossible. I was just about to panic when I heard _his _voice, only slightly muffled by the door.

"…Kairi?"

_You have got to be kidding me_. "Go _away_!"

I heard him sigh. "Look…Kairi, whatever you say, I'm not going to leave until I'm sure you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"Kairi you know I know you better than that."

I surpressed the fluttering feeling those words gave to me and promptly snapped at him to go away in the snarkiest way possible. I honestly wasn't ready to see him.

Apparently I wasn't snarky enough, because he still refused to leave. "You're gonna have to try harder than that."

I considered just lying there, letting him knock until he gave up and left…but Sora was right, I knew him better than that. It took a lot to take Sora down. He could be impassible when he really had his eye on something.

I dragged myself off the bed and shakily staggered to the door, fumbling with the lock once again before pulling it open. I could smell his unique smell immediately, along with the aroma of the coffees he was holding. His shirt was crinkled and I could almost feel the awkward. I refused to look at his face; I was pretty sure I'd recognize the look he was giving me. I kept my eyes on his feet instead. "What is it…why are you here?"

"I thought maybe you'd…need someone there…you know…" He cleared his throat. "I brought coffee."

I glanced at him finally, taking in his messy hair, his confused-slash-apprehensive blue-eyed look and his firm grasp on the coffee cups. I lingered on the coffee cups for a while—they looked beyond appealing to be honest.

I stepped to the side and let him in. I sat on the edge of the bed next to him. My hands were still shaking as he handed me a cup of coffee. I brought it to my lips, the thick slightly-bitter taste making me grimace. I'd never liked coffee that much, but it made me feel less dizzy and well. He brought me a sweater and draped it over my shoulders, which was nice of him, I guess.

He started rubbing my back, which was slightly awkward yet soothing in a way. He remained silent, but I could feel his gaze on me. I forced myself not to return it. He eventually gave up silent, using his thumb to wipe my messy fringe away from my eyes and mouth. "Kairi…if you ever, you know, want to talk about it…I'm here."

I looked at him then—proper looked at him.

And his eyes were that deep deep blue color with the moon coming in from the window and he was frowning slightly in concern and his lips were curved downward and he looked so genuine and so sincere…and then the feeling of guilt and helplessness overwhelmed me and I collapsed into tears.

The sobbing continued, except this time it was harder. I cried into his chest, probably ruining his shirt, unable to stop myself. I started saying things in between sobs, like how much I hated myself and how sorry I was for ruining his shirt and demanding to know why the hell he'd followed me…and he just wiped at my tears and rubbed my back and hugged me and whispered over and over that it was going to be okay. And even though I didn't believe it all that much, it did help reduce the sobs to sniffles and before I knew it I was back to sipping coffee.

"This tastes like puke," I observed.

Sora didn't say anything. I had hardly noticed his hand was in mine. He was picking idly at some loose thread in the bedspread. I wondered if he'd rather be somewhere else than with me. He could have been at the party. I could still hear the music from next door.

And then he said: "…you know I can see your room from my bedroom window."

_Wh—what. _My heart skipped and my eyes widened to the size of saucers. Sora had been looking at me through—oh my god.

I was all ready to yell at him, or at least try to yell, but then I realized that took too much effort…and plus…it wasn't like I hadn't been watching him undress either or anything.

I relaxed, honestly not in the mood for yelling, and leaned into his hug. He felt warm. "…so can I."

He stiffened, and I could practically _hear_ him blushing. "You mean you…?"

"Guilty. Not that there was that much to look at, really."

"Ouch."

"I'm just kidding." I attempted a smile. "You're actually pretty impressive. Especially since you started working out."

Sora fumbled with his cup of coffee. "…thanks for taking care of Pascal while I was gone."

"No need to thank me." I sighed. "Pascal is co-owned by me, after all."

"No he's not—"

"If not for me he'd still be going around called Rodent; I think I deserve a mention."

"Well wouldn't that just make you the godmother then?"

It went on as such for a while, our banter making up for the silence and easing the tension between us. I don't even know what we were talking about. It felt simple and nice and comforting, just sitting cuddled in his arms, listening to his voice

and his laugh

and the sound of him listening

to me.

* * *

Of course it had to end. We danced around the topic for far too long before Sora's natural inquisitiveness got the better of him and he asked the question I'd been dreading him to.

"Kairi…did that…did what you told me before…did it actually happen?"

I tried not to show how much that stung. "Of course it did. Why would I make something like that up?"

He seemed to realize his mistake, hesitating. "I just…you hid it so well. Like, no one would have guessed you—"

"You should have seen me at my old school." I cut him off, keeping my lips in a thin line. The memories came back, everything I'd been trying to push to the back of my mind for almost a year now. I rubbed the lining of the coffee cup slowly to occupy my shivering hands. "The rest of my freshman year, the rest of that summer, all through my sophomore year…every day was torture. Like, every day felt worse than the last. Sometimes I'd just stay in bed until my parents dragged me out and forced me to go to school.

"I had to see the guy who did it every day in school, at least until he graduated. And when he did graduate, it didn't get any worse. The nightmares only increased. I was bullied, on top of all that, because after it happened I was so freaked out I called the police on the party and a bunch of people were arrested for drug possession and everyone made me out to be the Tattler."

I closed my eyes and drew in a long breath, remembering the nightmares, the lonely nights, trying and failing to block out all the insults and the spiteful jabs. Tattler wasn't the only thing I'd been called. Somehow rumor ended up having it that I slept around. I didn't even know how people started to believe that, but it didn't change the fact that in everyone's eyes I'd been the pathetic little whore who'd crashed a party and ended up getting people arrested.

"I hated myself. I hated everyone around me. I'd come back from school and cut off any contact with the outside world. I'd fall asleep sometimes hoping I'd never have to wake up. It was _that _bad."

Sora's eyes widened, his lips parting in shock. "You mean…your parents don't know about any of this?"

I lowered my head. "No one does. You're…the first person I've told. Not even my therapist."

He went silent. I could feel his eyes on me, but I was too afraid to look.

"…why didn't you tell me sooner?" His voice cracked painfully and I felt like I was about to burst into tears.

"Because I knew that if I told you, you'd never look at me the same!" I bit down on ym lip, trying to stop it from trembling. "I just wanted someone to listen to me, and understand. NOT pity me, or judge me. Just…understand."

"What made you think I'd look at you any different?" He let out a sort of sardonic laugh, like he found what I'd just said ridiculous. "No matter what happens or what you tell me, you'll always be the same Kairi. And I'll always feel the same way about you, nothing will change that."

He thumbed at my fringe again, and I looked at him then. His eyes, wide and blue and full of nothing but concern and that stupidly attractive look of determination. His gaze softened and his lips curved in a warm, sweet smile that made every inch of my skin melt. The overwhelming feelings of anxiety began to fade away, and I let myself get lost in his eyes and take in every detail of his face, of his perfect smile and those stupid dimples I'd never even realized he'd had.

I felt like it only made sense to give him a soft, slow kiss, a sort-of thank you. For his being there. For his saying what I didn't even realize I wanted him to say.

It barely came out as a whisper. "Thank you. Don't ever change."

It was more of a command than anything, but it came out as a plea, and I knew then that I honestly didn't know what I'd do without him.

We spent the rest of the night just talking, about nothing and everything. His fingers filled the spaces between mine, and I fell asleep to his heartbeat and his voice and his laugh.

He was warm and I just wanted to drown in _him _and everything about him and at that moment I honestly didn't care about anything else.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I woke up slightly disoriented and with a dull thudding headache. I cracked my eyes open and promptly shut them closed again, the sunlight coming from the window enough to blind me. I reached up to rub my forehead; it was damp and sweaty and I probably smelled terrible.

I was just about to fall back into sleep when I felt someone's breath on my face…and I had to resist the urge to scream.

My thudding heard didn't slow down at the realization that Sora was lying next to me, his eyes closed and soft snores escaping his lips. I'd been sleeping comfortably in the the crook of his neck and had barely even realized it.

I closed my eyes and buried my face into his neck, his smell making my insides tickle. I thought of going back to sleep, but my eyes found their way to his face again and I propped myself up on my elbows, just looking at him.

He looked absolutely angelic when he was asleep, his lips half-parted and his messy bed hair falling over his closed eyes. His cheeks were more toned now and he was smiling faintly in his sleep…I could have spent the whole morning just lying there, watching as his bare chest rose and fell and listening to him snore serenely, had a voice not shot down that possibility altogether. "Kairi?"

It was my mum.

I cursed under my breath. My parents knew Sora and al, and they often let him spend the day with me with no fuss. He was basically a friend of the family now. And my mum was largely more lenient when it came to guys and the like, but I knew even she would flip if she found me in bed with a shirtless Sora looking like I'd just emerged from an orgy.

Sora let out an obnoxious snore, and I started to panic. "Sora." He didn't budge. "Sora, wake up."

I should have known by now it took a lot to wake Sora up when he was sleeping. He smiled in his sleep, mumbling something incoherent and I pushed away the urge to poke his cheek and instead gave him the hardest slap I could muster.

That always worked.

I clamped my hands over his mouth, blocking out anything he'd been about to say. His eyes opened, glaring at first, but softening almost immediately when they saw me, and god they looked even bluer now.

I swallowed under his unrelenting gaze, loosening my grip over his mouth. "It's…" I lowered my voice. "…my mom. She's here."

"WHAT?"

I barely muffled his words in time; Sora obviously didn't get the concept of shutting the hell up. "Do you _want _to get us caught or—"

"Kairi?"

It was my mum again; I could hear her heels approaching the staircase. I cursed, scrambling off the bed and looking around for his shirt. "Sora you've got to get out _now_."

Sora was obviously disappointed. "Why?"

"Do you honestly think my Mom will believe me if I told her we spent a whole night together without…_you know_…" I tossed him his shirt. "If she finds you here she's going to flip."

"Fine, fine."

I struggled to keep my eyes on his face as he got dressed, but it wasn't as easy as it seemed. He'd left looking like an awkward-yet-mildly-adorable teenager and come back looking like a freaking Abercrombie model and I'd barely had time to see the transformation.

He didn't seem to catch me staring though, thank god.

He walked over to me with a small smile on his lips and leaned down to kiss me, the touch of his lips setting butterflies free in my stomach. I was just about melting; he tasted like the morning with a hint of mint coffee.

"_Kairi_?"

I pushed Sora away and attempted glaring at him, ushering him out the window. Sora just grinned, teeth showing and all. I wanted to be mad at him for distracting me, but I couldn't, with him giving me that stupid gorgeous smile of his.

I stared after him as he disappeared through the open window, the lightheaded feeling still present. I felt a stupid smile break across my face and I let out an embarrassingly high-pitched giggle.

* * *

I disappeared into the shower before my mum got into my room—I didn't want her seeing me in what I was wearing, especially with my smeared makeup and the tight-fitting top she didn't know I owned.

I gave myself a bubble bath and then decided to take a run to clear my head.

And it was only then that it truly hit me what had happened the previous night.

I'd told Sora the biggest secret in my life. I'd let Sora in on what had happened to me and now he knew and now it wasn't just my secret anymore, but his too. He'd have to go everyday knowing, and even though he'd said he'd never look at me differently, I knew that couldn't be true. Sora also had a habit of speaking before he thought and blurting out things on impulse; I knew it was only a matter of time before he ended up broadcasting the whole school that I'd been raped.

I turned another corner, turning up the volume on my iPod to block out the noise in my head and tried to think about other things, like Sora's eyes and his voice and his lips and how warm and _safe _it felt just lying down next to him and the look he'd had in his eyes—nothing but concern and something stronger, something I couldn't exactly pinpoint but for some reason made me feel like fireworks were going off in my head.

I was still thinking about all this and the kiss as I ran past the park. It was sunny out and though most people were at the beach on a spring/summer weekend, a few people had set up garden tables and umbrellas and were lounging in the grass.

I recognized one of them, a skinny blonde girl holding a more than familiar sketchpad, scribbling away at the white sheets. Every once in a while she'd look up at who she seemed to be drawing—a couple and the little baby boy they had with them. They seemed oblivious to the fact that she was drawing them, laughing and fussing over the baby in absolute admiration.

I walked over to Namine. She didn't even realize I was approaching her; she was so enraptured with her art. She had always been like that. When Namine had her sketchpad, it was like she was in another universe. It was one of the only things she'd ever been really passionate about.

I took a seat next to her, taking a glance at her drawing. Her hands flitted deftly, curving and sliding across the page and somehow managing to make a decent outline. She had finished drawing the mother and was halfway through the baby. I wondered how long she'd been drawing.

"That's really good," I commented finally, breaking her out of her trance. She jolted, thankfully not doing anything damaging to her artwork.

Namine's eyes widened when she saw me, her expression changing from shock to embarrassment to fear in barely seconds. I tried to smile convincingly, placing my hand on her wrist in a way I hoped was reassuring. I was almost sure she was going to get to her feet and bolt.

"Don't let me bother you," I reassured. "I'll only be here for a bit."

Namine chewed on her lip, lowering her head back to her drawing. "Thanks."

We sat in silence. Namine's bench was perfectly positioned underneath one of the few trees in the park, granting us ample shade. I watched her draw but eventually that started to get boring, so I turned my eyes back to the couple. They were still having their picnic, the baby seeming more occupied with snapping the crackers he'd been handed than really eating them.

I suddenly had an idea.

"How old do you think the baby is?" I prompted.

Namine's eyes flickered over to me, and she shrugged. "I don't know. One, two maybe. He only has a few teeth."

"And the Dad?"

"Late-twenties…?"

"Really? I'd say mid-twenties. He has a good job with has good hours and good pay. Probably lives near the beach."

It was a game I always played with Sora, whenever we went grocery shopping or whenever we were bored at school. We'd find random people on the street or in the area and think of scenarios, likes, dislikes, backgrounds. Sora was exceptionally good at it. He could come up with stories in the wink of an eye; his imagination was something I'd always admired about him.

She'd seemed to catch on, her lips curving in a soft smile. "Yes. And maybe he owns a Porsche."

"I was thinking maybe a jeep. I mean, they're a family…"

"They don't want a big family just yet, so for now a small car's good." Namine was starting to get into it. "They've been together since high-school and they picked out the same college—the one in the Twilight Zone—, pitched in some money they'd been saving up and bought a small apartment for the both of them."

I grinned, letting myself get carried away as well. "He was working towards a degree in Business and she wanted to do something in the arts field, but then she got pregnant. She stays in the apartment and waits until he's done with his studies. She doesn't want to have the baby in the city—she doesn't want him to grow up surrounded by tall buildings and the smell of car fuel."

Namine's smile had turned into a sort of sad one now, as she watched the couple in a look that looked somewhat wistful. "So he takes extra classes and manages to wrap up his course early and they find a perfect little house next to the beach on the North Destiny Island. They get married in a private chapel and spend their honeymoon on the beach. She has the baby and he has the most beautiful golden curly hair and the bluest eyes and they name it Taylor."

A laugh bubbled at my throat. "Taylor."

Namine still wasn't done. "He has just enough experience to land that minor banking job and maybe it's not what he'd been wishing to do but it pays the bills and he doesn't care because he has her and she has him and they have their baby and everything's perfect. They go down to the beach on the weekends and spent New Years watching fireworks and sometimes they just get in the car and drive to nowhere and they don't care where they're going as long as they have each other."

I looked at her then. There was something to her words, something to her tone that made it obvious this wasn't just a game to her. It was a fantasy, it was a dream. It was something she'd been wishing for…and obviously for quite a while.

My eyes instinctively dropped to her stomach as I remembered…she was carrying someone else in her tiny little body.

"You know something Kairi?"

I brought my eyes back up to her face. She was still smiling, even if it had waned a little, her eyes still trained on the couple. "At first…when I found out about—that I was pregnant, I was scared. Terrified. I felt completely lost and I panicked. But now…I'm actually kind of excited." She placed her hand on her stomach. "Theres a whole new life. A whole nother human being, growing inside of me…it's fascinating. I'm just…I'm not scared anymore."

I was confused, but most of all shocked. Did she have any idea what she was saying? She was _pregnant_. And not even _sixteen_.She had a boyfriend who frankly scared the shit out of me, and my parents still didn't know. And the fact that the father of the child was none other than _Roxas _unsettled me.

I tried not to let it show, easing into the subject as gently as I could. "So…have you talked to him yet?"

She immediately knew who I was talking about. Her smile slowly dropped from her face, and she began nervously fiddling with her pencil. "Roxas? No…not yet."

"…do you want to talk to him?"

She squirmed uncomfortably. "I…I don't know. I don't know how he'll react. But…I know we need to talk about this…to sort things out…I need to tell him I'm keeping the baby."

I stared at her incredulously. "You what?"

She flinched slightly, fighting back a frown. "I'm—I'm keeping the baby."

"But—Namine." I was starting to panic. "You _can't_. You're still just a baby yourself—it's dangerous!"

"I'm w-willing to take a risk." She didn't do that much of a good job at hiding her hesitation.

"Do you know how ridiculous this is?" My voice had started to rise higher. "If you don't get rid of it before it's too late—"

"I'm not 'getting rid' of anything, Kairi!" She snapped. "It's not some—some kind of _insect_. I—It's my baby, I'm keeping it."

Now I'd never used to believe in abortion. I'd always thought it was a sinful, heartless thing to do.

But this was Namine. My younger _sister_. It could destroy her entire life, and she was too blinded to see how much of a mistake she was making.

"Do you know how much is on the line here? Mum and Dad still don't know about this—no one does except from you and me! Do you realize how much you'll have to sacrifice? It's not just a few years—it's your entire _life_!"

She was visibly starting to think twice. The doubt was written all over her face. "B—but I'll have Roxas—"

"And how are you so sure of that?" I couldn't stop myself. "Namine, I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore because of him. He's not who you think he is—he may seem like an angel to you but I _know _what he's done. He's going to abandon you as soon as he finds out and you'll be left stranded with this whole responsibility on your shoulders—"

She was starting to tear up. "Kairi stop—he's not _like _that—"

"—and what about Seifer?" She visibly blanched at his name. "Do you have any idea what you're even doing?"

She shakily got to her feet, tears starting to stream down her face. "I—I was going to tell him—"

"Tell him _what_? That you slept with _Roxas_ and got yourself pregnant and you're _sorry_? Seifer's obviously going to take that amazingly well."

Namine bit down hard on her lower lip, fighting back sobs. I hated seeing her cry, but she could be terribly dense sometimes and it irritated me. "Look, Kairi, I don't care what you think about me or my decisions, b-but I'm k-keeping the baby and that's final! It's all going to work out in the end—I know it will—Roxas loves me and I love him—"

"You're _fifteen _you don't even know what love is yet! Last year you were _so sure _you were in love with Seifer, and now…ugh. How can you be so sure you're going to spend the rest of your life with him? Life is college and work and bills and do you honestly think you're ready for any of that? Do you honestly think _he's _ready for that? Life isn't a freaking _fairytale_, Namine!"

That seemed to hit home for her. She visibly flinched, evidently stung by that realization.

"N…no. You don't—you don't know _anything_." She hugged her sketchpad against her chest, gave me one last, cold tear-stained look of denial, and fled out of the park.

* * *

I only started to feel bad after she'd disappeared out of my sight. We'd attracted a lot of attention from the park from our argument and received a few raised eyebrows. The couple and their baby were giving me disapproving looks, and I decided I'd better leave.

I contemplated running after Namine but then I remembered I had no idea where she'd gone. Plus, she most likely didn't want to seem me after what I'd said to her.

It had been nothing but the truth, though. Namine was too young to understand. She lived in an illusion. She didn't even know what love was; she'd been deceived by the movies and the books and the countless Taylor Swift lyrics that had almost become her mantra.

And I guess it was a bit harsh, the way I put it.

But the truth hurt, and if I didn't let her know, she'd only end up finding out the hard way.

I didn't even have time to feel guilty, because as the afternoon turned into evening and evening turned into night, the embarrassing memories from last night began resurfacing at the most random moments. The flushed faces of the nameless guys I'd danced with, Rikku laughing at some joke someone had made, the truth or dare game—

I jolted, my face erupting in color as I remembered how I'd practically molested him in a closet and yelled at him for not kissing me and the confusion on his face and I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Kairi?" I looked up from my meal to see my Mum looking at me, confused. "Are…is everything okay?"

I nodded as convincingly as I could, excused myself and ran up to my bedroom.

I honestly had no idea how I was going to face him. It was all so embarrassing, and we were obviously not going to be able to go back to being just friends after I'd almost put my hand down his pants.

Almost being the keyword, because I hadn't.

At least I hoped I hadn't…

I made a mental note to never allow myself to get smashed again. It was probably the stupidest thing I'd ever done, thrown myself a birthday party in my neighbor's house and invited pretty much everyone I knew and more. And then kissed my sort-of-best friend, yelled at him, spilled my biggest secret ever, and fallen asleep in his arms.

…so the falling asleep in his arms part wasn't that bad…but the rest of the night had been a disaster I was more than willing to forget.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The next morning came, and I was so tempted to sleep in and call in sick to prevent myself from having to face Sora after all that had happened. Of course I couldn't, though. My mum wouldn't believe me, I had Nationals that evening, and I just wasn't the one to skip school anyway.

The summer uniforms had arrived and I was actually relieved. The material was lighter and the sleeves were shorter but apart from that it was the same old uniform, and it was comforting, in a way. Maybe I wouldn't stand out so much and I could easily disappear or something. Yuna was back and she'd once again be the center of attention and everyone would forget about me and my escapades and maybe I'd go back to being one of the irrelevant "Populars", as Sora put it.

I was wrong.

For some reason, when I got to school, it was like I'd grown a second head or something because everyone's eyes were trained on me. I heard them break into whispers as I passed by them on the way to my locker. I assumed it had something to do with the party and I was too focused on trying not to run into Sora to really care to listen to what they were whispering about.

If I had, it probably wouldn't have been such a shock to me when Selphie and Vanille hurried up to me and—

"Kairi why didn't you _tell _us?"

I was still clueless as to what they were talking about. "…tell you what?"

"About what Riku did to you?"

My heart stopped. "…what—how did you—"

"Haven't you been on Facebook lately?" Selphie snorted. "It's _all _anyone's talking about. I mean literally after Sora posted that status on Riku's wall—"

I could barely choke out a reply. "—what—_Sora_ posted—"

"Yeah and it's a good thing he _did_?" Selphie crossed her arms over her chest. "Literally you can't just hit a _girl_ and get away with it that's like the lowest of the low."

"Totally," Vanille seconded, placing her hand on my shoulder in attempt to be comforting but it wasn't fucking working because I was still struggling to breathe. "Just because you didn't put out doesn't give him the permission to _hit _you!"

I swallowed hard. They weren't helping _at all_. I tightened my hold around the strap of bookbag, their words blurring around me as I tried to figure out what was happening. It was only then that I realized the real reason everyone was looking at me.

And I saw that look, between the curious, shocked and dubious looks—pity.

They felt _sorry _for me.

"I—I have to go—" I pushed past them as my legs began to take me to my locker, trying to block out the looks and whispers I was receiving. Yuna and Lenne were there, Yuna reapplying makeup and Lenne talking to someone on the phone. They both stopped what they were doing as soon as I walked up to them, and I tried to ignore their looks and put on the most convincing smile I could muster. "Hey."

"…hey." Lenne cleared her throat. "How've you been?"

"Good." I opened my locker and tried to look busy.

"Um…great. Good." Lenne grinned warily at me and cleared her throat again. "Well me and Yuna gotta head to class…see you?"

I nodded and watched them leave, and I was just closing my locker when Sora came flouncing up to me.

He'd never looked so good in uniform and it almost annoyed me how hard it was to pull my eyes away from him, no matter how much I wanted to. The feeling of embarrassment from the few days prior wasn't even my biggest problem anymore—the whole _school_ knew about Riku hitting me now, thanks to Sora. I still wasn't sure whether I was angry or not and I honestly had no idea how to act around him yet.

Thankfully, Sora seemed to be intent on carrying on as normal—or at least as what used to be normal. He pulled me into a familiar peppermint-smelling hug, his scent only tinted slightly by some new product he must have tried on his hair. His hair was still in that ridiculously attractive new hairstyle, bringing out the dimples I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed since I'd become his friend.

He frowned slightly; apparently he noticed something was off. "What?"

He looked genuinely confused and it annoyed me so much—he was honestly asking what was wrong? I pressed my lips together in a thin line. "Hi."

His frowned deepened, his lips parting for a question he was about to ask when suddenly a group of girls from Drama came bundling up to us and the bell rang, ending our conversation.

I was too scared to check my Facebook.

I knew there'd be the _faux-_pitying messages—"I'm so sorry about what happened!", "I totally understand how you feel!", "Riku is a jerk, trust him to do something like that!"—all over my wall, and I honestly wasn't in the mood.

To top it all off, Sora managed to land the front cover of the spring-summer edition of _Oblivion _Magazine, the bi-monthly fashion magazine based on the biggest fashion industry on the islands. All the best outfits, all the best models and all the best stars were featured in _Oblivion_. I wasn't really that much of a magazine reader, but hanging with the people I did…it was almost impossible not to be forced to read one every once in a while. Plus, Leonardo DiCaprio had been featured in one issue.

Anyway, Sora had apparently gotten a job at the _Oblivion _modeling branch on Destiny Islands, and it had somehow slipped his mind to let me know this. We didn't exactly have that much time to talk, anyway. He was preoccupied by all the attention he was receiving…mostly by infatuated girls.

As the morning dragged on, my irritation with him only grew. His letting the whole school know about my break up with Riku and the reason why was probably the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. He hadn't told anyone the bigger secret—thank _God_—but he might as well have. By the time the rumour had gone round the whole school and back, Riku had apparently been trying to rape me and I'd harshly rejected him and he'd beaten me up until I was almost unconscious. Sora had been  
"lucky to find me alive".

I couldn't even bring myself to dispel the rumours. No matter how much I tried to convince anyone it wasn't that serious, they shot me down. Girls came up to me telling me how sorry they were—even though they _weren't_ sorry, they knew fuck all—and Selphie wouldn't stop spouting out facts she'd read on this relationship website and comparing my relationship to Rihanna's infamous one with Chris Brown.

"If a guy hits you, no matter what, don't you _ever _go back to him," she'd repeat on end until I was sure I was going to be muttering it in my sleep.

I kept my mouth shut eventually, realizing it was pointless. They were all convinced I was this sad disaster case and felt obligated to help me. Even the guys gave me pitying looks.

And though 99 percent of the school was convinced Riku was a descendant of the Devil, there was the 1 percent of the school population who thought my whole story was bullshit, who thought I was making it up. And though I appreciated that they weren't as gullible, it did hurt a little, the looks _they _were giving me. In their eyes I was a slut who'd been rejected by Riku and assumed I'd made the whole story up to get back at him.

Part of this one percent was Fang—though she didn't say anything, it was painfully obvious still.

It was hard to get a breath of fresh air. By lunchtime I was just about ready to pull my hair out, but I kept it in.

Sora met up with me at lunch, an apologetic smile plastered on his face. I attempted a smile of my own and he pulled me into a friendly hug. He smelt of some really strong perfume—he'd probably picked it up from one of the girls who'd been glued to his arm since that morning—and that did almost nothing to improve my bad mood.

I honestly wasn't in the mood to spend lunch trying to ignore the stares and listening to "advice", so I told him I was spending lunch at his table. Penelo, Light, Serah, Snow and Vaan were honestly refreshing company; they hadn't judged me once on who I usually hung out with ever since I'd befriended them, and that was nice.

We talked about everything _but _the stupid rumours and the latest gossip, instead talking about the latest episode of Teen Wolf, summer plans, what we'd done over break. I focused hard on ignoring Sora's presence and he seemed to catch on, spending most of his time talking with the guys instead. I felt his gaze trained on me as I ignored him though, and I tried my best not to look his way.

I was just starting to relax, getting into Penelo and Vaan's story about their spring camping trip when suddenly the whole cafeteria fell silent.

Everyone's eyes swiveled to someone who'd just entered the cafeteria, and when my eyes found him, my breathing seemed to stop altogether.

"Is…is that _Riku_?"

It was a whisper, but his name triggered something in me. My blood ran cold and my heartbeat was so loud I could hear it in my ears.

He looked absolutely terrible. His hair was the worst I'd ever seen it, done in a messy ponytail that obviously hadn't taken him much long to pull together, and his eyes were dark and tired. So, so tired. The dark circles underneath them were hard to miss, his cheeks were hollower and he was in his rumpled winter uniform, the sleeves barely concealing the bandage on his upper-right arm.

Barely a second passed before everyone continued their conversation, though I was oblivious to it all. My eyes were trained on his approaching form, my breath hitching painfully. _Oh my god oh my god oh my god—_

He walked straight past us without a second glance, heading straight to the usual table.

I wasn't sure if I felt hurt of relieved.

My eyes followed him, still. I had a profile view from where I was sitting, and I watched as he set his tray down next to Shuyin, a ghost of his usual smile on his face, a weak, empty smile that sent shivers down my spine. I watched as his face contorted in confusion, and then irritation…and then he seemed to realize something, his eyes widening in shock.

The pie seemed to come out of nowhere.

It hit him square on the back of his head, a hard, direct hit that sent him falling unceremoniously to the cold tiled floor.

There was a collective gasp and even a few applauses, and then the cafeteria fell deadly silent.

My eyes darted around the cafeteria, searching desperately for the person who'd thrown the pie, and my heart nearly stopped when I found Sora, an uncanny, sick smile on his face, his eyes absolutely _livid_.

_No no no no no—_

"Riku. Ha. Nice of you to show up, after a week in hiding. You coward. I can forgive just about anything, Riku, but when it comes to hitting a girl? You completely crossed the line."

_This isn't happening_.

As much as I wanted to stop what was happening, I couldn't move, my eyes glued to the scene that was unfolding in front of me.

Riku looked absolutely terrified—and betrayed. His eyes looked up at Sora's looming form in shock and bewilderment, looking nothing like the guy who tyrannously roamed the high school campus barely weeks prior. He looked small and lost and confused, nothing like "Riku Harada"—

And then he looked at me, and I saw everything.

I saw the way he'd looked at me, pleading and desperate, as he kneeled down in front of me on stage at his birthday.

I felt his lips brushing my lips and my neck and my forehead, I felt his teeth and the beat of his heart.

I felt his fingers in my hair and on my cheek and on my lips and squeezing my hips.

I heard his laugh and his voice and his desperate, breathless whispers—_I love you I love you I love you_—over and over and over and over—

I saw the tormented, terrified, weak little boy I'd held in my arms in that run-down apartment as he cried and gripped onto me like I was the only thing he had left.

He pulled away from my gaze, the hurt and betrayal written all over his face, the color in his eyes completely drained. I watched helplessly as he got to his feet, holding back tears, and tore out of the cafeteria.

* * *

**SO THERE IT IS. WOO. **

**I'm actually pretty happy with this chapter?**

**Sneek Peek:**

"_Who are you, honestly?"_

"_This is it."_

"_Hear me out, _please_."_

**Stay tuuuuned… :) **

**XX **


	32. Little Talks

**A/N: The past week has been full of ups and downs, tbh. Sigh. **

**Yes, I survived Isaac, and I have him to thank for cancelling school and giving me time to finish this chapter. Woohoo. The VMAs are coming up and in between voting nonstop for my babies to lift their first moonmen and doing homework…phew, it's a miracle I had time to pitch this in. Enjoy. **

**Anyway, if you haven't realized, most of the chapters are named after song titles. Look them up, because usually they relate to the chapter. Other times they don't and I'm just pulling a random song from my playlist, but most of the time they do. ;)**

**Disclaimer: No**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I let Sora in._

"I'll always feel the same way about you, nothing will change that."

_Namine makes the worst decision ever. _

"I'm—I'm keeping the baby."

…_and then…_

"Is…is that _Riku_?"

* * *

**Chapter 32: Little Talks**

I wanted so badly to run after him, to find him and hold him and tell him I forgave him and maybe even let him kiss me because by this point the guilt was almost enough to consume me whole.

I sat in my seat, yearning more than anything to chase after him but at the same time shocked so immensely by what had just taken place that I was paralyzed, unable to move. I tried to stop my heart from thudding so relentlessly against my ribcage, rubbing my arms to get the goosebumps that I hadn't even realized had risen to go away.

As the day eased on, the shock gradually began to turn into anger, an anger that made me fingers curl into fists and completely robbed me of the ability to smile. I was on autopilot, barely hearing what anyone was telling me, barely registering the sympathetic looks teachers and students alike would send my way, barely noticing Sora's hold on my hand. I heard his voice, but it was strangely far off. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, not trusting myself to speak. I knew once I started I'd never be able to stop myself, so I was planning on just keeping quiet until I'd calmed down.

And then came History.

Sora had come to sit next to me, taking Riku's usual place, and, in a way, I was almost grateful. I wasn't sure I'd be able to spend a whole period next to Riku without having a mental breakdown. There were so many unspoken words between us; the tension would be enough to suffocate me and I'd probably end up bursting into tears before either of us even spoke.

Sora's knee would constantly brush with mine as the period went on, and I could feel the heat through his uniform pants. The warmth coming from his knee was all I could think about, it was almost funny, and relaxing in a way. I spent the whole period furiously keeping my eyes trained on Barrett Wallace as he went on about some civil war or the other and I pretended to take notes. I tried to ignore the fact that pretty much everyone in the room was looking at me, talking about me, because I was suddenly the most interesting topic for any conversation.

I focused on the warmth of his knee and the fire that erupted on my skin every time he reached over to borrow my eraser and his fingers brushed mine, and the new perfume he was wearing, some sort of floral smell that made me want to close my eyes and just fall asleep in his arms—

The bell rang and by then I'd almost forgotten I was supposed to be mad at him.

I got to my feet, blinking out of my dazed state and taking a deep breath through my nose. My phone buzzed in my pocket—a text from Yuna reminding me about glee practice. Oh. I'd very nearly forgotten about that.

I turned to Sora to let him know about this, keeping my eyes trained on his collarbones, because I wasn't sure I could trust myself to look at his eyes just yet. I'm still in the middle of talking when he takes my wrist and abruptly pulls me into a kiss.

I melted. My entire resolve to keep my distance from him—gone. I couldn't even remember why I was supposed to be angry at him in the first place, and at the time I didn't care. The kiss was messy and heated and could barely hear the catcalls because the only thing that was running through my mind was helooksofuckinggoodwhyarehis lipssosofftwhatishappeningic antbreathe—

I pulled back for air, my arms still around his neck and an embarrassing giggle at the back of my throat. I was blushing now, looking at Sora for some kind of explanation for the unexpected kiss. He had an impish smirk on his face, and if I hadn't been watching his every move I might have missed the way his eyes flickered, for a split second, to look at someone over my shoulder.

My smile disappeared, and something clicked.

I swiveled my head around in the direction he'd been looking, just in time to catch Riku's retreating figure disappear out of the door.

_Oh. _

I pushed away from him abruptly, like he was some kind of poisonous parasite, feeling absolutely disgusted. The small of his back hit the edge of the desk behind him and he grimaced, stuttered something, shaking his head slightly, actually trying to _deny_ what he'd just done. I'd had enough by this point, the previous anger rising once again, and I stormed out the room. I didn't trust myself to be in the same room as him, let alone hold a conversation.

I started off as fast as I could towards the Music Room, but Sora, of course, _followed_. I ignored him as he repeatedly called my name, and I had nearly reached sanctuary when his hands gripped my wrist. "Kairi, what is your problem—"

"What is _my_problem? Are you serious, Sora?" He flinched at my tone, releasing his grip on my wrist just enough for me to yank it out of his grasp. "Do you honestly think you of all people are in the right place to ask me that? Wait—don't answer that. I can't stand you today. You've been acting like an absolute asshole lately, I don't even recognize you anymore. Kissing me to make Riku jealous? _Really_, Sora?"

He shifted uncomfortably, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. His forehead creased in a frown. "Ok, so maybe _that_ was a little uncalled for—"

"Who are you, honestly?" I tried not to let the look on his face get to me, looking anywhere but at him. "I'm just…I don't get this. I don't know why you're acting like this…I thought—" I stopped myself, swallowing hard. _You promised._ I inhaled deeply, ignoring the huge lump in my throat with a sigh. I shook my head, turning on my feet. "Just…just leave me alone."

* * *

I half expected him to run after me once I'd slammed the door in his face, blocking out his pleas, but he didn't. He must have gotten the hint and left, thank god.

I couldn't afford to be distracted. Nationals meant everything to most of the people in that room, and even though I'd only been doing show choir for barely a year, it sort of meant everything to me too. Yuna had explained to us how hard it was going to be and what kind of talent we'd be up against before, and she reminded us once again that afternoon.

Yuna and Lenne were in on the new addition to the setlist now, and though Yuna was obviously massively in doubt, she let us go on with it. Though I had a feeling Tidus had something to do with it, because Yuna was usually unwavering when it came to decisions.

We'd all perfected the choreography and harmonies for the extra song without Yuna and Lenne, so they decided to stick it out and focused more on the other two.

Olette and Penelo seemed to be the only ones who didn't feel the need to treat me like glass, and I was thankful for that. I'd didn't need everyone suffering because of my stupid problems. I spent the next few hours singing over and over in my head, blocking out everything else. I needed to, at least just for one night.

I flinched slightly, pressing my lips together to hold back a groan as Selphie tightened the straps of my dress. She seemed to notice, muttering an apology under her breath. "Is it too tight?"

"No, no—it's fine, it's not like I have to sing or anything."

Selphie laughed, a tinge of nervousness laced in her voice. I brushed it off, pretending not to notice the cautious tone she was using with me, the calculating glances she'd send my way whenever she thought I couldn't see her.

I reached up to absently fiddle with one of the ringlets she'd done with my fringe, humming to keep myself busy, and make it obvious I wasn't in the mood for her babying me. She got the hint and skipped over to the others, helping them out with their final touch-ups. Our first outfits were all Rihanna-inspired, and I was stuck with the complicated floral red number I couldn't wait to get out of.

We were in Palumpolum, the city where Nationals were being held. It was a lot less idyllic than Destiny Islands and reminded me a bit of the Garden. Half of Destiny Island's electrical supply came from Palumpolum and so did the seafood, and the thriving market place gave it its rightful title as "Capital of Commerce". (Pence gave us the low-down as he snapped around frantically with his camera; he found it necessary.) Retail stores lined the streets, the huge electrical plant was visible wherever you went, and I had a feeling ninety-nine percent of the nature was artificial.

I felt strangely nostalgic, and I made a mental note to tell my parents about the place. Maybe we could go to Palumpolum sometime in the summer.

We got to the arena and the nervousness once again began gnawing at my insides. The arena was at least three times bigger than the previous ones, and it was obviously a lot more formal. More than thirty schools were performing in one night, and only ten would qualify for Finals. We had to make those ten, otherwise—

No, there was no otherwise. We were going to make it.

I repeated the mantra over and over in my head, not sure who I was trying to convince.

* * *

Yuna was right—the competition was brutally tough, making the previous groups we'd been up against look like nothing in comparison. The choreographies were flawless, the harmonies were flawless, and for the most part their song choices were Broadway hits. As the show progressed, it was obvious Yuna was regretting agreeing to let us do Nicki Minaj, but Tidus' constant reassuring whispers seemed to calm her down, at least a little.

I tried not to think about the fact that this would be the first show I'd be performing without Riku and his perfect smile in the audience.

"…this next group, all the way from North Destiny College…"

Yuna had decided to skip the usual speech altogether, simply telling us to give it our all, with Tidus adding "and kick some ass" for extra measure.

I had to smile at the look they'd shared, right before they'd parted to go take their places on the stage. They had to realize their feelings for each other sooner or later—it wasn't possible they were both completely oblivious.

Though I wasn't really one to talk, since I hadn't realized Sora liked me more than a friend until, like, a few weeks ago.

I wondered if he was in the crowd.

"…the Songstresses!"

I didn't have time to think. The lights dimmed and boom—it began.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The first song was Only Girl, spearheaded by Yuna and Lenne, and its main purpose was to get the crowd to loosen up and, inevitably, make the two following songs sound better. Only Girl didn't have any impossibly strewn out belting solos that would require Yuna to strain her already recovering vocal cords, which was a relief, and so, basically, the fate of our entire group depended on me.

The intro for the next song began to play, and I closed my eyes shut, taking a deep breath through my nose. I needed to calm down and give it my all.

Somehow, I _knew_ Sora was there in the crowd, whispering words of encouragement from miles away, and that strangely reassured me.

Or maybe he was just in my head.

It didn't really matter.

The ground rumbled as the thunderous applause shook the wide hall, the lights shining down and coating all of us in a warm glow as the song ended with a final note.

I'd channeled all my energy, all my being into the performance, and by the time I'd finished I was almost completely drained, and barely had time to jump into my final outfit for the concluding song. Thankfully this time, I wasn't the focus of the show, but I still pushed myself to carry out my own part in the harmonies up until the song came to a close and the applause filled the room.

Relief flooded my senses and I let out a breathless laugh, barely waiting until we exited the stage before pulling Penelo into a hug. She was nearly in tears and looked about ready to collapse, but she'd performed flawlessly and had gotten half the audience on their feet.

Sora wasn't with Vaan and the rest when I got there, and I tried not to let it show how much that bothered me. But it did hurt. I'd been totally convinced he'd been there, watching my performance—I swore I'd seen him in the crowd.

I tried to smile as Snow gave me a congratulatory hug and Lightning complimented my outfit, trying not to stare as the two couples made out with each other right in front of the both of us. I wondered if that's how Riku and I looked, whenever we—um.

I swallowed thickly. Riku hadn't come either. Of course he hadn't.

I was all set to excuse myself and run to the bathroom before I burst into tears, but then Penelo's face lit up and she waved animatedly at someone behind me.

I couldn't stop my face from breaking into a grin so wide it was almost painful.

He hugged Penelo first, giving her a brilliant smile. He was wearing jeans and a v-neck polo, and he looked taller for some reason. "You were amazing," he breathed, like he was utterly in awe.

"Thanks," she giggled, slowly pulling back from the hug and slipping her fingers through Vaan's. Sora grinned fondly at them, winking not-so-subtly at Vaan, or Snow, I wasn't really sure. He gave everyone a small nod of acknowledgment before finally turning to me, and I tensed. He looked skeptical, apprehensive, like he expected me to blow up in his face like I had that afternoon. My face threatened to heat up in embarrassment as he pulled me into a hug of his own. My nose brushed against his exposed neck, sending fire up my cheeks. The close proximity was almost suffocating.

But then I started to relax into the hug, the almost familiar feeling soothing. I sighed, wrapping my arms around his torso, and I wanted more than anything to stay there all day, but I knew I couldn't do that.

"You weren't so bad either." That was Sora's way of complimenting me; I knew he was joking but I gave him a punch in the arm anyway.

Shuyin and Wakka arrived, along with the rest of the group, and I figured Sora must have come with them. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, to be honest. They'd always been the first to make jabs at Sora, and now they had their arms around his shoulder like they'd been best friends since elementary.

Conversation became a mass of enthusiastic cheers, jokes and comebacks and before we knew it the lights were dimming signaling the end of intermission and we were needed back on stage. Sora gave me a reassuring squeeze, his fingers pressing ever so softly on the bare skin of my shoulder for what felt like a millisecond, before disappearing into the crowd with the rest.

I accepted the gesture, his touch lingering on my skin even up until we were standing on stage waiting for the results, but the warmth eventually faded, along with the calm he'd been trying to make me feel.

The host began reading out the names, the ten who had made it through. I swallowed thickly, the nervous sweat starting to break on my forehead, and I didn't even have the time to feel exhausted. The anxiety gnawed at the lining of my stomach and I felt bile rising to my throat.

I felt someone take my hand, and I looked up to find Penelo, who was obviously trying to hide the fact that she was deathly nervous behind a brave smile. I nodded gratefully in her direction and squeezed her hand tightly. She needed more reassurance than me.

The names continued, cheers resounding in the hall as the selected glee clubs were called out, and I was biting down on my bottom lip so hard I was scared it would draw blood when—

"…the Songstresses!"

* * *

It took a while for it to register. For a few seconds everyone was just silent.

And then we erupted into screams, cheering so loudly our throats were in danger of going raw. Our name was the last to be read out; we were the tenth school on the list and we'd narrowly made the cut.

Zidane went around kissing everyone on the cheek, including me, and Tidus ordered everyone into an obnoxious bear hug, and then we basically ran off stage, cheering and whooping as the confetti rained down and got stuck in our hair and everyone was laughing and it was just so freaking perfect.

The euphoria was still in the air when Sora appeared backstage, a sort-of-sheepish smile on his face, and I'm assuming it was the overwhelming happiness I felt at that moment that made me run up to him and leap into his arms. I was lucky he'd sort of being anticipating it; I buried my face in the crook of his neck, my cheeks damp—since when had I been crying?—wrapping arms around him in a strong hug before leaning back and letting my hands rest on his shoulders.

I took in his face, feeling my heart flutter warmly in my chest. I took in his face, his thick, slightly furrowed dark eyebrows, his lips which were set in an almost smirk, his stupid perfect nose and the faint indentations in his cheeks I'd only recently started to appreciate so much more. His eyes were pools of striking blue mixed with a faint shade of green, dancing across every inch of my face, and I laughed, somewhat nervously, shaking my head.

"Um, you can—you can put me down now."

He took a while to respond to that, his smile widening into a grin before he finally let me go.

I told him to wait while I said bye to the others, and he nodded patiently, an understanding smile on his face.

He was acting so freaking perfect I'd forgotten I was supposed to be mad at him.

Selphie was running around like she'd had one too many cans of Red Bull, and her smile was so wide I was scared she was about to break her face in half. I didn't blame her; I hadn't stopped smiling either. "We're thinking of going for a few drinks to celebrate, you coming?"

I glanced back at Sora, trying to seem reluctant as I declined her offer, when honestly I just wasn't up for getting drunk. I loved them all to bits but…I honestly wanted nothing more but to spend the rest of the night with my best friend.

Selphie seemed to get the drift, sly-digging something along the lines of "don't forget condoms" before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I headed towards Yuna and Tidus to go say goodbye, but before I could get a word in edgewise, Tidus pulled Yuna into a spectacular heart-stopping kiss.

I decided to take it as our cue to leave. I'd grill the details out of her later.

* * *

The air was crisp and fresh and relaxing, the sea wind whipping at my hair. I took a deep breath, the smile still plastered to my face. "It actually hurts to smile this much. God."

He laughed. "This really meant a lot to you, didn't it?"

"Yeah it…it kind of did. I like singing, and performing, and I guess I like winning as well…knowing I can do _something_ right. And it does help take my mind off…other things."

Whether he got what I was alluding to or he didn't, he didn't say. We walked in silence, and I was sort of thankful. I hadn't really had time to think about anything since that afternoon. Sora, chasing Riku out of school, because he thought he was helping me. He didn't know the full story, and I couldn't blame him for that, could I? I hadn't exactly told him everything. But still, it was highly uncharacteristic of Sora to just explode and ruthlessly humiliate him like that. I'd thought they'd been friends. He had to have seen the pleading look in Riku's eyes.

Sora seemed to read my thoughts. "Kairi, about earlier today—"

"Already forgotten."

I could practically feel his relief. "…you mean you forgive me?"

"I never said that."

I spoke before I could stop myself, and when I had I almost regretted it. But I didn't make any move to apologize. It was sort of true. I did plan on forgetting about the whole incident, but it was hardly excusable. I wasn't just going to forgive him for what he did, even if he had been acting like an absolute angel.

I pulled my eyes away from him, not wanting him to see my hesitation, and not wanting to see the hurt look on his face.

I could almost hear him frowning. "I—okay."

We fell silent again, heading to the train station. Or at least I thought we were.

"Do you have any idea where we're supposed to be going?"

I shrugged. "The train station's somewhere around here, we're going home aren't we?"

"Yeah." Sora sighed. "I don't have any munny on me; Shu was kind of my ride."

"'Shu', huh?" For some reason that irked me, the way he was acting like they were best friends or something. I was pretty sure Shuyin hated his guts. "So you guys are on nickname basis now?"

Sora hesitated, scratching the back of his head. "No—not exactly."

"Huh." I struggled to hide my frown. "He gave you a _ride_, in his new car. He doesn't give rides to just anyone you know."

"Well I don't know what he thinks about me, but he offered so…" I must have been glaring at him or something, because he stopped halfway through the sentence. "What?"

I shook my head dismissively. I tried to seem casual, pretending to look at the scenery as we walked. "So you guys are friends now?"

"Well—I don't—yeah we are, I guess."

"Just like you and Riku were friends?" The rational part of my brain was obviously on vacation or something.

Sora bristled. "Look I'm completely lost here—what are you even saying?!"

"I…I don't know—" I stumbled, trying to channel my frustration into the repeated clenching of my fists and calm down enough to make sense. "I just…I guess I'm still trying to get over everything that's happened today. With you and…and Riku…"

His name sounded strange on my lips, almost acidic.

I heard him sigh. "I'm…I guess I should apologize for that…freak show in the cafeteria…"

I shook my head dismissively. "No you don't have to—"

"Yes I do," he insisted. "It was wrong, it was unfair, I just—I wasn't thinking rationally, I was just angry at him because of what he did to you and—"

"Stop it."

He did. I hadn't realized when we'd stopped walking, but I felt too tired to move forward. I shook my head again—I didn't need Sora making me feel guilty, because I knew more than anything that this was my fault. I'd blurted out only half the truth to Sora, it wasn't his fault he misunderstood, no matter how much I tried to tell myself it was.

"This isn't…I didn't think this would happen—everything's happening so quickly. I didn't think telling you would make everyone…would make the _entire school_ **hate** him."

I collapsed onto a nearby bench, Sora cautiously taking his place beside me. The wind nipped at my hair, and I pulled on the sleeves of my sweater.

Sora still looked genuinely confused and somewhat worried, his dark eyebrows knitted together in a concerned frown. It wasn't fair on him—Sora was his friend too, he needed to know.

And with that I decided to break the promise I'd made to Riku. "There's something I didn't…tell you about Riku. I didn't exactly tell you everything—about what happened." I sighed. "I know I told you about him—hitting me—only once by the way, and it was hardly anything serious I was just emotional and drunk—"

"He still hit you though."

"Yes—"

"Is this some kind of relationship thing?" He persisted, confused and visibly slightly pissed. "You're still not over him yet, are you?"

"No, that's not—"

"There is no excuse for hitting someone, Kairi." His tone was final, insistent, and so was the burning blue of his eyes. "I don't care what reason you feel justified it, I might have gone a little overboard making a scene in front of everyone in school, but that doesn't change the fact that—"

"—he's being _abused_, Sora!"

The words seemed to hit him pretty hard, making him stop his rant entirely. His eyes narrowed and he inhaled deeply through his nose. He struggled to choke out a reply. "What—are you—"

I wanted to stop, but I forced myself to continue. "He bullies people because he's been bullied by his 'family' ever since he could walk. And it's not just mentally, it's physically and emotionally and I know it probably doesn't justify hurting other people but—" I watched as it sank in, the emotions flickering through his eyes, a mix of horror and confusion. I hesitated. "I didn't want to tell you before because he made me promise not to tell anyone and I'd already thrown my stupid problems at you and I didn't want you having to keep all these secrets—you have enough on your plate you know, with y-your parents and your brother and—"

I was barely aware of how pale his face was getting, his eyes widening like he'd just seen a ghost. The cogs worked in his brain, finding missing links and only adding to the sickeningly horrified look in his eyes. "I think…I think I'm going to throw up."

His voice came out strangled and he made barely made it to the nearest trash can.

I watched as he retched helplessly; it felt painfully familiar. I remembered how I'd felt after learning about Riku's secret, the debilitating fear that had taken over me after seeing the bruises and after hearing him cry. It was the worst feeling, seeing someone you loved so much being hurt and knowing how helpless you were to stop it. I remembered being so tempted to run off to the police, to get him locked up and behind bars, to tell everyone at school, everyone I knew, just so I'd never have to see Riku cry.

Because honestly, I never wanted to experience that ever again.

I waited until he had finished before handing him my bottle of water, my hands trembling. I watched him take a sip, his eyes still distant, confused. I dropped to the ground beside him, trying to choke out an apology, and I realized my face felt wetter than it had a few minutes ago.

"But why…why didn't he tell us?" He barely whispered, the rising anger evident in his tone. "We could have helped—"

I cut him off with a solemn shake of the head. I _knew _Riku, a lot more than Sora did. I'd seen him at his worst, I'd had time to read him, to understand him…and it almost scared me that I knew him in and out. "I…he doesn't like feeling weak. He likes being on top of things…he likes being in control. If…if people knew about what was going on—"

"He didn't want to be pitied, is that it?" His lips tilted upwards in a cruel smirk. "Because he's _Riku Harada_, he's too _good _for pity, he doesn't need anyone's help. He's obviously been doing a good job handling everything by himself, hasn't he?"

I grew irritated then.

One thing Riku and I had in common was that we both knew what it felt like to hold a secret that big. We'd both been abused—Sora hadn't. Since that morning I'd had to endure exactly what I'd been trying to avoid for the past few months, and Sora was the one who'd unknowingly brought it upon me, because he thought he'd been _helping_. He didn't get it; he thought it was so _easy _to just tell people. The only time Riku had told me was because he was weak and vulnerable, and the same went for me. He couldn't relate—to any of us—and it was almost understandable why he was angry at Riku for not telling him.

But it didn't stop me from going on an exhausted rant. I was fed up with it all, and I let go of everything I was trying to keep bottled up.

"Look, Sora, you have _no idea _what it feels like, having everyone treat you like you're some sad case, like you're glass, like you're completely fragile and that anything they say will _break _you. You don't know what it's like to have all these people who just yesterday didn't give two _shits _about you suddenly acting like they fucking care when they fucking don't—"

"You don't know that—"

"Do you think I'm that stupid, Sora? Really? I'm not clueless. I know no one really gives a shit that I got beaten up; I've heard what they're saying. I can't just pretend I don't hear them—talking about how I deserved it, how I'm a skank, how Riku deserved better, how I'm probably making this whole fucking thing up." I swallowed the growing lump in my throat, determined to stop my voice from shaking. "And then there's all the crazy rumors and I know I've tried to tell myself it's not getting to me but it is, Sora, it really is. I'm sick—sick of everything right now, and I get it. I get why Riku kept everything a secret. You know what everyone would be like."

He didn't say anything. We sat in silence, for a few brief moments, and then he reached out and took my hand. His hands were slightly shaky, but he gave me a short, tentative squeeze.

His touch was relaxing and I leaned into his shoulder, curling my fingers around his hand, resting it on my thigh. I looked up at him, and the emotion swimming in his eyes was enough to make me regret everything I'd just said. "I'm…I'm sorry, I just—"

"You don't need to apologize," he whispered, running his thumb over my knuckles. "You're going through a lot…"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "I really am a mess, huh."

"I can't disagree."

"I wish things weren't so complicated."

"They don't have to be."

I'd been so convinced I was in love with Sora and not Riku up until I'd seen him in the cafeteria. I wasn't so sure anymore. I was confused and conflicted, and the guilt was exhausting me.

Even though I'd been trying to pretend I didn't care, I actually missed Riku's presence in my life. Like, a lot. It felt like there was a part of me missing, without him there. Without his eyes and his voice and his smile, without his existence. I missed _him_, and the memories that came along with him. The night he'd taken me out dancing, the evenings we'd spent making out on my front porch, hushed whispers in Calculus and hours spent on the phone. I missed the way he'd look at me like I was the only thing worth looking at, like nothing else existed except me, like I actually _deserved _his attention. I saw it in his eyes—it was like he'd _anchored _himself to me, and that realization made chills run up my spine.

I'd told Namine she was too young, that she couldn't possibly know what love was, but how was I any different? I was barely a year and a half older than her. I wanted Sora. I wanted Riku. I wanted both of them.

I thought of all this in the warmth of Sora's embrace as we rode the train back to the Islands. Our cabin was mostly empty, except from a couple, who were fast asleep. I was starting to fall asleep myself, but the rumble of Sora's chest as he spoke up woke me up.

"I guess I kind of owe him an apology." He heaved a sigh. "I swear to God if I'd known—"

"Sora, don't beat yourself up over this. There's no way you could have known."

He seemed to think this over. "Ok then, Kairi. From now on, we tell each other everything. No more secrets." He held out his pinky finger, smiling down at me. "Promise?"

I smirked, whether it was at how cute he was being or the ridiculousness of the gesture. "Only if you promise to stop acting like a jerk at school. Cockiness is so not a good look for you."

He laughed. "Promise." His smile waned and he looked hesitant. "But seriously, Kairi, is this whole thing…"

I waited for him to finish, expectantly.

He raked his fingers through his spiky hair. "Look, if it's what you want, I'll get rid of the new clothes, the hair, everything—"

"No-no-no-no—that's not what I'm saying…" I insisted. (I kind of liked his new outfits. I mean, I'd always liked how cosy and comfortable he'd looked in his sweater vests and t-shirts but the photos of him in _Oblivion _had kind of changed my mindset on things.)

I sighed, absently playing with our interlocked fingers. "I just…don't want to lose you. I didn't ask…for any of this and…I'm—I'm scared you'll end up…changing because of them."

"Changing into what?" His cheeks dimpled as he smirked, poking my cheek. "I'm not going anywhere."

My chest filled up with an inexplicable warmth at that. Behind his playful gaze, he was genuine. "You'd better not."

We got home nearly an hour later, both of us struggling to stay awake. Sora insisted I take a nap, that he'd stay awake for me, but I didn't trust him enough.

He walked me up to my front door, like he always did. We stood there on my front porch, just looking at each other. I took him in, searched his face, tried to ignore the heat in his pointed gaze. I rocked on the balls of my feet, slowly coming to a halt as he started to lean in. Our noses were almost touching when I stopped him, gripping the front of his shirt.

The voice inside of my head screamed _what the hell are you doing_, but I ignored it. I needed to be rational—Sora and I needed time, I knew that much. I needed to know what I was doing, how I really felt. I was jumping into things and if I wasn't careful I'd end up ruining whatever it was Sora and I had…and I didn't want that.

Plus, he sort of still faintly smelt of puke.

I heaved a sigh, slowly pulling away. "I'm sorry, I just…need a little time…to figure things out."

"Okay," was his immediate answer. He was genuine, even then, and I loved him for it.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

My dad still hadn't gotten around to fixing the curtains, but I'd found an old cardboard box and flattened it out to use instead. It served its purpose—Sora wouldn't be snooping on me ever again.

I wouldn't be able to look at him either…but sacrifices had to be made.

I suddenly had an idea, grabbing a Sharpie from my desk and scribbling down a cute goodnight message.

Well, sorta.

_dream about me tonight ;) xx_

I had a quick shower, pulled on a t-shirt and fell into bed, exhausted. Everything that had happened that day—with Sora, Riku and everyone—had finally taken its toll on me, and I was all ready to just close my eyes and sleep.

I had high hopes for the next day. Maybe Riku would come back, and Sora would apologize, and everything would be okay. Everyone would forget and move on, and Sora and Riku and I would be friends and—

I fell asleep still thoroughly convinced that actually had a chance of happening.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Riku was absent the next day.

I guess I should have known. Why would he? Everyone pretty much hated his guts, especially after it got out that he beat up Kuja and two of his friends 'for no exact reason'.

Drama was definitely more strained. Now Sora knew about Sephiroth and what he'd done to Riku, it was visibly hard for him to carry on as normal. Riku was absence was obviously irritating for not only his Dad but for everyone else. The play wasn't half as important to me as glee club or anything, but it was graded and, plus, we'd put in a lot of effort to make it perfect and without Riku—who'd been the reason anyone had even bought tickets the previous year, Tidus claimed—the play had the risk of falling slack. He was undoubtedly the best actor in school and in all the important scenes, and it was evidently frustrating everyone that he was refusing to show up.

Even the Blitzball team had the audacity to be mad at him, Sora told me. Riku was the star player and not having him on the team was crippling, especially with their upcoming Nationals game. In their eyes he was being ridiculous—they needed someone to blame, and since Riku couldn't exactly protest, they laid the blame on him to save themselves the guilt.

It was pathetic.

It was obvious, though, that Sora was struggling not to accept the blame himself. He was still convinced that it was his fault, but I was insistent on not letting him beat himself up. I'd spent weeks blaming myself, and I eventually managed to find a level ground. Though both of us did significant damage to him, it all boiled down to one person and one person only.

We decided to go visit Riku's dad after school—well Sora did and insisted I come along. I was wary at first; I'd never been to his house and I wasn't sure I wanted to face his dad. Frankly, he scared me, and after seeing what he'd done to Riku, I was far from comfortable even being in the same airspace as him.

We took the bus to Riku's street, and I felt an odd familiarity as we walked. I'd been here only once or twice before, when I'd gone jogging, and I'd passed his house several times without realizing he was getting beaten to death in that cosy-looking duplex that didn't look any different from any of the others on the same street.

The particularly vivid images that flashed through my mind as we approached his front porch were enough to make me stop in my tracks and to cause bile to rise in the back of my throat.

But one look at Sora's face and I knew I had to stop being a coward, for his sake. His face was pallid white and he could barely lift his fist to knock on the door, so I did it for him.

We waited. I knocked again. The door didn't open.

I called his name, thinking maybe he was upstairs or something, knocked again. There was no response, and even though I knew I should have been disappointed, I was strangely relieved. "Maybe—maybe he just isn't home yet."

"Maybe."

Sora didn't look ready to abandon just yet, muttering something under his breath about a back door before heading in what I presumed was that direction. I'd barely moved my feet before a car pulled up in the driveway, and fear stopped me short.

It was Sephiroth. My blood ran cold.

My brain frantically sent signals to the rest of my body, trying to make me run for my life and away from the man who had nearly murdered Riku, but Sora's grip on my hand stopped me before I could even force myself to obey. Instead I stared, terrified, as the tall, lanky man emerged from his spotless car, familiar briefcase in hand and the too-shiny-to-be-fake ever-present "prop" sword slung over his back. His eyes were strangely lifeless and dull, betraying no emotion yet giving him a somewhat bored demeanor.

"You do realize what you delinquents are doing is called trespassing, and could get you two arrested."

He slipped past us, almost disregarding our presence entirely, to push the house key through the lock. I watched his actions, and for some reason I felt like I was intruding some sort of private moment. I forced myself to swallow and slipped my fingers out from between his to clasp his wrist, giving him a soft tug and hoping he took the hint.

If he did, he ignored me. His eyebrows knitted in a taut frown, his tone laced with an underlying venom. "I'm not leaving until you tell me where Riku is."

Riku's name seemed to strike something in Sephiroth. We were walking on eggshells here, and I had a feeling if we pushed any harder he'd snap and turn into the monster who ripped apart Riku's life.

And then he turned to us, his eyes falling on Sora's first, and he suddenly looked at least a decade older than he usually did. I saw every single contour and indentation of his face, every wrinkle that had seemed nonexistent before then. He looked _tired_, and weak, and way too thin, and I suddenly found it hard to believe that this was the man who had given Riku all those bruises and made him completely fall apart. This Sephiroth seemed barely able to walk, on the brink of falling apart himself.

His lips narrowed in a thin line. "I am just as clueless as you are, though it is funny that you should ask."

The accusatory tone in his voice was hard to miss. Sora flinched beside me, his harsh gulp loud in my ears. Sephiroth's eyes found me, locking me in a perpetual state of shock, before his eyes fell dead again and he disappeared into the house.

* * *

"Maybe he'll be back tomorrow."

"Maybe."

* * *

The encounter with Sephiroth had left the both of us slightly shellshocked. Sora had work and I needed to go see Arecia, so we parted ways.

Arecia obviously noticed how exhausted I was, giving me a sympathetic smile as I sat down in the soft armchair opposite her. I attempted a smile in return, but the disappointment from not being able to find Riku was still lingering.

She brushed off her curiousity—it was her profession, after all. "So, Miss Price, how was your day?"

I answered truthfully. "Exhausting."

"Isn't it always?" Her lips curled upwards slightly as she fiddled absently with her pen. "So how are your grades?"

"They're fine." They weren't as stellar as they had been before everything began to crumble, but she didn't need to know that.

"I heard North Destiny made the cut at Nationals." She clapped her hands together softly. "Congratulations."

My heart warmed as I remembered the euphoric feeling. "Thanks. It was great. Probably our best performance, actually. You should come next time."

We talked a little more, about school and boys and gossip, and it was nice.

And then she decided to bring up the Sora issue again.

"Is he any better?" She asked, twisting her pen round and round between her thumb and index finger. "Have you guys worked it out?"

I shrugged, strangely uncomfortable. "Yes, we made up but…I don't know—I feel like we needed a little time." I licked my lips. "This might sound a bit silly, but I'm not sure what I want. Like, I thought I was in love with him, but then again I thought I was in love with Riku, and I'm only seventeen and—"

"I think that's a perfectly reasonable choice." She added: "You're right—you are fairly young, and fresh out of a break up. But I have a few questions for you first." She clasped her hands together. "Does he make you happy?"

I nodded. Of course he did.

"Would it bother you if he started dating other people?"

Just the thought of Sora kissing someone else made my skin crawl.

Arecia laughed; my expression was enough of an answer. "Well it'd be daft to assume you only look at him as a friend."

"But if you ask me the same thing about Riku—"

"So you still have feelings for Riku, is that right?"

I made a noncommittal noise, playing with my fingers. "I…I can't stop thinking about him, and it's driving me nuts. And—and something happened in school and he won't answer any of my calls…it's frustrating."

I could feel her eyes probing and curious. "I guess I can't help you until I know the root of the problem, the reason you and Riku broke up. It must have been pretty bad considering the state in which your parents brought you in." There was a laugh in her tone, but I knew she was serious. "Your parents really were worried about you."

I sighed. I knew they were, and Arecia was sort of helpful. If not for them I would still have been wrapped up in a duvet in my smelly Hello Kitty pajamas.

She sighed, looking at the clock. Our session was about to end. "Well until you've figured out how you feel, I guess carrying on as normal is the best course of action."

* * *

**I had no idea how to end this chapter, honestly. Meh. **

**The next one shall be fuuuuun. I'm serious, happy happy here on out. Possibly. **

**Coming up, more SoKai, more character development, Roxas, Namine, yadda yadda. **

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_She's like a modern day Cara Delevingne."_

"…_what does this mean?"_

"_I'll come with you."_

"_It's like you're screaming but no one can hear."_

* * *

**Til next week! (Maybe) xx **


	33. All About Us

**A/N: I NEED TO STOP LEAVING HUGE GAPS BETWEEN UPDATES. UH. **

**About this chappie: Musing and pining and fluff and general blah. **

**Disclaimer: I've got 99 problems and Kingdom Hearts is all of them.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sigh. Sora._

"Kissing me to make Riku jealous? _Really_, Sora?"

_We win Nationals._

I like singing, and performing, and I guess I like winning as well…knowing I can do something right.

_Sora finds out._

"I guess I kind of owe him an apology."

_We try to find Riku._

"Maybe he'll be back tomorrow."

_And I'm still torn between Sora and Riku._

I just…need a little time…to figure things out."

* * *

**Chapter 33: All About Us**

I was wrong to ever worry about him, really.

Popularity didn't change Sora.

Sora changed popularity.

As days turned into weeks, it was pretty obvious he was starting to grow on—well—pretty much everyone. It was like I'd barely had time to blink before Shuyin, Wakka and Sora were setting up game nights together and exchanging homework answers like they'd been friends since childhood. And unlike what many would have thought, Sora didn't just abandon his old friends; their lunch table became the new, permanent popular table—which was growing larger and larger by the day. Everyone gradually fell under Sora's charm, even Yuna and Lenne. Tidus was still a little on edge with him, but he was a lot less hostile than he had been.

Sora was still the same person, albeit a little more confident, the same bright-eyed, lively guy I'd grown to like a lot more than I should have, and I felt happier than I had in a long while watching everyone else realize that.

He wasn't a bully, he never had been, and he talked to everyone like they were potential friends. He communicated with everyone ranging from the Blitz team to the computer club and he seemed to constantly have time for everyone and anyone who needed it. Sora was selfless and acted oblivious to the social hierarchy, and since everyone began to follow suit, it began to crumble into nothing.

School in general just seemed to be a much happier place.

Everyone seemed to fall in love with his cheesy smile and his curious blue eyes, and, sure, the amount of attention he had to give pretty much everyone did get to me sometimes.

But the jealousy faded quickly though, because he always made sure to make time for me. It was an unspoken rule that afternoons were to be devoted to the two of us, bar my therapy sessions, glee and Sora's job. It was just like old times, before things got complicated, and every afternoon we did something different, whether it was painting, going to the park or the beach, or simply hanging out in our bedrooms or on Sora's couch watching some TV marathon. The excursions got more creative each passing day—Sora's ideas seemed to come out of nowhere, and they had no bounds. I wondered if it was the summer air.

Once Sora came up with the idea to say yes to every opportunity he was presented with for the whole afternoon, and by the time dinner rolled around, we'd entered a summer contemporary dance class, volunteered at an animal shelter and rented a motorbike. Well, Sora had, which was absolutely ridiculous.

"Do you even know how to ride one?"

"Not in the slightest, but life's all about taking risks isn't it? A wise young woman once told me nothing good will ever come out of being afraid of the unfamiliar."

And that was that; I couldn't really argue with myself.

Then there was that time when we figured our street looked a little boring and needed some sprucing up, and we took it upon ourselves to paint and chalk drawings on the concrete. Cars rarely passed by our street, so we were painting for a good two hours before the pregnant lady from across the street caught us in the act, obviously not really appreciating it and threatening to call the cops on us if we didn't clean up. Sora's hand slipped and I was drenched with water, and what basically ensued was a full-fledged hose war.

Sora and I were good. I didn't really think about making what we were into anything more or anything less, I didn't need to.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Our schedules conflicted once in a while, with Sora's job and my therapy sessions Sora had kindly not bothered to ask about, so we tried to work around it, but one afternoon I was idle and Sora had work and I asked him if I could come along and he didn't exactly object.

I'd passed by the _Oblivion_ building once or twice, and it was even bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. Large glass windows and doors and intricate balconies and verandas—it was the perfect cross between modern and vintage. The floor was tiled and the sound of heels clacking against the sleek flooring resounded in my ears.

It wasn't even the architecture that intimidated me the most—it was how perfect everyone looked. They were all obviously models, decked head to toe in astounding outfits, looking like they'd walked right out of a fashion magazine—which, in a way, they had. Everyone looked almost photoshopped, skin either too tanned it looked unreal, or so pale I doubted they even came from the Islands. They had perfect legs and perfect boobs and arses I would have killed for. These people were the vintage Cadillacs of the human race. Everyone was skinny and gorgeous and flawless and I suddenly severely regretted eating the cheeseburger I'd had for lunch. I felt obese in the presence of such superior human beings. Whatever little self-esteem I'd built up in the past few months was slowly dwindling into nothing.

"…who's your friend?"

I managed to drag my eyes away from a group of male swimsuit models in time to see the owner of the unfamiliar voice. It was a girl, who somehow managed to be shorter than me. She was _tiny_, andcouldn't have been older than fifteen. And, of course, she was almost blindingly pretty, with reddish-brown eyes and long light-red hair. I wondered if it was dyed.

"Shiki, this is Kairi. Kairi, Shiki." Sora gave Shiki a playful shove, and I couldn't help but stare at his hand on her shoulder. "When she's not flirting with every breathing member of the opposite sex or pissing everyone off she can be a pretty decent designer."

The girl—Shiki—stuck out her tongue at him, and he returned her action with a stubborn pout, and I wasn't sure what to make of that.

Thankfully someone else arrived, interrupting us—a guy this time, with spiky caramel-colored hair that couldn't have been natural. His eyes were sea-blue, but I couldn't see much else of his face behind the giant collar of his shirt. He gave me an odd look, wary, and I barely heard him mutter something under his breath.

"Neku," Shiki provided, lingering awkwardly next to him without half the familiarity she'd had around Sora. I wondered if they'd had a fight or something. "He models for electronics. Headphones and shit?"

The boy—Neku—made some sort of nod before muttering something about needing a drink and stalking off. I heard Sora sigh. "He's like this with everyone, at least until he warms up to you."

By this point I was already distracted, as a pack of male models walked past us, looking like they'd just been showered head to toe in grease but somehow making it work. I had a feeling I'd seen one of them in a perfume ad. They whistled in our direction, and Shiki returned them with her middle finger. I decided I liked her already.

She and Sora dragged me to see "the others"—Rhyme—an adorable little blonde kid—Beat—a loud, burly guy who seemed obsessed with "gangster slang"—and Joshua—a skinny pale kid who looked almost ghost-like. I mistook him for a girl at first—his voice was light and his features were feminine and—yeah, thank god I'd found out.

As the afternoon went on, I found out that Joshua liked pickled onions, Rhyme was Beat's younger sister, that Beat was obsessed with dubstep and house music. He asked me what my favourite genre was and when I replied that I liked RnB the look of absolute horror on his face said enough.

"What—that's a perfectly valid answer," I insisted, frowning. "Frank Ocean, MJ Blige, Drake, Alicia, Missy Elliot—" He snorted, and I bristled. "Yeah, you have the right to judge."

He stopped smiling, his lips curling into a frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dubstep's hardly even considered a genre," I replied smugly. "It's just some guy with too much time on his hands tapping away at a keyboard or a sound system—it's not _music_, it's _noise_."

"You did not just say that."

"Would you like me to repeat myself?" I batted my eyelashes at him innocently, liking the way his cheeks flared up in fury.

"Dubstep _is _music—I'd explain it to you but you're obviously too thick to get it!"

"What?!"

And before long we were well into a heated debate, and I was clearly winning. Beat was impossible and he looked like his head was about to explode every time I replied to his argument with "who cares, it's shit"—I was being stubborn on purpose to wind him up, it was fun, and it's not like what I was saying wasn't true, because it was.

Before long we both started to get tired, so we decided to agree that we both had different tastes and to leave it at that.

I really did like Beat though. Once I pushed his terrible taste in music (?) aside, he was a really nice, funny guy, and Rhyme really looked up to him. Joshua was really sweet, albeit a little quiet, and Shiki was bouncy and bubbly and reminded me a little of Selphie. She showed me a whole book of outfits she designed, telling me about how she wanted to be a top class designer when she grew up. She also seemed to know the gossip on everyone in the building, knew who was sleeping with who, who'd gatecrashed who's party, who was single and who wasn't, and who to steer clear from at all costs unless you were seeking death.

She told me about Neku, the boy with the huge collar, about how they'd been friends since they were kids and gotten jobs at _Oblivion _together freshman year. She talked about him a lot. I wondered if they were dating. I wondered if it was polite to ask her about it. I didn't, though.

She'd been talking about Neku for a while before she decided to steer the conversation in my direction. "So, you and Sora. What's the deal? You fucking?"

I choked on thin air. Talk about brash. "Straight to the point, aren't you?" She shrugged casually, and I sighed. "No, we're not. We're just friends."

"…with benefits?"

"_Just _friends."

She giggled. "Right. Haven't heard _that _one before."

She announced she needed to take some measurements to 'Noel'—the nameless boss—and asked if I wanted to tag along. I said yes.

Noel was a dark-haired guy who couldn't have been much older than twenty, with healthy tanned skin and gorgeous eyes and—yeah, it wasn't really fair how perfect everyone looked. We were in some sort of studio, with cameras flashing and lights shooting in every direction, illuminating the models in the booths. There were about twenty different models posing for the several cameras all in one room, and—

I found Sora in one of the booths, decked head to toe in what looked like a fall outfit. He was wearing oranges and browns and he looked like a million bucks. His hair was half-covered in a beanie, flattening his fringe ever-so-slightly over his eyes, his tanned skin contrasting beautifully with the colour of his eyes and the collar of his coat. His skin looked pristine and his lips were full and pink and I wondered if he was wearing makeup.

I'd never really seen Sora as a model—in fact it was the last thing I'd ever have imagined Sora doing—but he looked completely in his element, staring into the camera with raised eyebrows and biting down on his lip when he was asked to and looking up from under his eyelashes and flashing a brilliant smile—

"Earth to Kairi? Hello?"

I snapped out of the trance with a jump, only to break out into an embarrassing blush when I realized what I'd been doing. "Um. Yeah—we can uh."

Shiki glanced at Sora, then turned back to me with a knowing smile. "He's pretty sexy isn't he, yeah. I mean, his eyes, and his teeth and those _lips_—like fuck me against a wall."

"How old are you?!" I demanded, feeling way too hot all of a sudden.

"Fifteen," she replied brightly. "Almost legal. Wow if I was one year older—"

"Can you not."

She didn't stop after that, unfortunately, but she had to by the time we got back to the lounge, because Neku was back and he'd bought us all pizza and Shiki was starving, apparently.

An hour rolled by and we were all contemplating starting a game of cards when Sora arrived, still glowing from his shoot, but in his regular uniform now. He was a lot easier to look at now that he wasn't…yeah.

I said bye to Shiki and the rest, exchanging numbers with Shiki and promising Beat a Missy Elliot album, and then we set off home, stopping off at the corner store for some groceries first.

"Why didn't you tell me about them sooner, Sora? They're so…normal. Like. Behind the fact that they look all blindingly gorgeous they're so easy to get along with—sure, Beat's music taste needs a lot of working on and—oh and Rhyme is the cutest little thing? I can't believe you've been hiding her from me? You have to let me come with you next time, I got Shiki's number and everything. And did she really design all those dresses because you need to hook me up with her I mean my wardrobe is—oh and speaking of Shiki are she and Neku dating because—" I stopped suddenly at the odd look on Sora's face. He turned away when he caught me looking, shaking his head. "What?"

He laughed, a soft, airy laugh. "I don't know. I just. You really seem to've hit it off with them."

I shrugged. "They're lovely, I've only known them for like an hour but they're funny and tight and—" I paused before continuing. "I feel like I can start over with them, you know?"

Sora seemed to get it, his eyebrows creasing into a sad frown as he looked me over. His eyes were probing as he reached out to take my hand in his. His hand was warm and his hold was soft, and I once again felt myself sinking. I felt pathetic—I couldn't have one good day without thinking about it all, could I?

I wanted to lean into him, so I did, letting him cradle me against his chest. My nose touched the base of his neck and I leaned into his scent. He'd obviously been drenched in some expensive cologne, but the collar of his uniform still smelled like him. I felt like I could just stand there forever, next to him, in the middle of the store, and it just…it felt right. Normal.

I felt safe with him. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms, I wanted him to hold me in his warm embrace forever and never let go. I felt like with him holding me I didn't have to worry about anything else, for a second I almost let myself forget about the dark secret only two of us knew.

I was just tired. Tired of waking up every morning feeling like part of me is missing. Tired of having to force myself to smile around anyone who wasn't Sora. Tired of being so hung up on something that happened two years ago. He was gone, everything was supposed to be fine, I'd told Sora, I was supposed to forget about this, I wasn't supposed to flinch every time someone held me a little too hard, I wasn't supposed to be scared of the dark and scared of thunder and scared of small spaces. I wasn't supposed to feel hands that weren't there, I was supposed to be a normal teenager and have normal friends and act normal and be happy and stop dragging everyone into my mess. If I hadn't been such a fuck-up then Riku would never have—

"You have to tell someone."

I felt his words before he said them. He was breathing harshly, his heart thudding fast against his chest. I gripped onto the front of his shirt. I tried pretending I didn't hear him, even though I had, pretty clearly actually. I tilted my head up to look at him, only to find him already scrutinizing me with insistent eyes. I dropped my gaze immediately, finding the birthmark at the base of his neck and keeping my eyes trained there instead. "But—I already—"

"No, I mean." He heaved a sigh. "Someone who isn't…me. Like. I don't know if I'm enough, if I can deal with—wait—" I attempted to pull out of his hold, but he held his grip. "—I mean, this isn't just some secret about your crush, Kairi. It's big—and I have absolutely no experience with this. Like, none. I just feel like—like telling someone else could really help."

"But I'm _fine_—"

He was persistent. "I don't mean anyone from school, just someone who you can talk to—"

"I said I'm _fine_," I attempted to pull away again, getting irritated. "I don't need this—"

"_I need this_."

I froze then, at the emotion that practically bled from his words. His eyes were a mix of determination and desperate pleas, and his hold on my wrist seemed tighter all of a sudden. His brows were creased in worry, and I wondered, for a second, if maybe Sora was as tired as I was.

I felt terrible. I sort of got where he was coming from. He probably felt as helpless as I did. I'd dumped my problems on him and now he was the only person other than me who knew what happened. I didn't know how I'd expected him to just forget about it. For a second I felt a bit offended that he thought I couldn't take care of myself, but then I realized he was right—I couldn't. I'd tried, but all that had gotten me was almost eight months of trying to pretend nothing was wrong, a rogue boyfriend and a drunken confession to my best friend. He was just looking out for me, of course he was.

And as much as I didn't exactly like the idea of telling someone else, I knew I needed to. For him at least.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We went after school the next day. I had glee but I made up some excuse about having a headache and they bought it, and Sora had the day off at _Oblivion_.

We took the first bus, and each street we passed brought us closer to Arecia. I was terrified, to put it simply. I still had no idea how I was going to say it, or _if _I was even going to say anything. I wasn't drunk this time, I'd actually be aware of what I was saying. There were a bunch of things to consider. If I told her, she might have told my parents, which would basically result in me being quarantined and banned from leaving the house without a chaperone in the form of my Dad. They'd be cautious with me for the rest of my teenage years, probably well into adulthood…and I wasn't sure how well that sat with me.

The closer we got the sicker I began to feel.

How was I supposed to tell her what happened without actually telling her?

We were barely a step away from the building when I suddenly buckled, frozen in place, my feet glued to the paving. "I don't—"

"I'm here with you, okay?" I was still unsure, but Sora had that look on his face and his fingers were warm and I couldn't really object to that. I nodded, letting him lead me inside. I went through the usual motions of getting a hall pass, only this time getting an extra one for Sora. I cooked up a lie about being asked to bring a friend and headed towards Arecia's room.

The short walk there seemed so much longer—probably because I was dawdling on purpose. I took the wrong turn at least three times, but thankfully Sora didn't seem to notice.

Arecia was scribbling in some kind of journal when I walked in, and her face brightened when she saw me, and she didn't even flinch at the sight of Sora. "Hello, Kairi. Seen you've brought a friend?"

"Yeah, this…" I cleared my throat. "This is Sora."

Amusement flickered through her eyes before she returned to looking him up and down calmly, but I could already tell he'd gained her approval. "Ah. Sora. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure's—uh—all mine." Sora seemed to realize how ridiculous he sounded and furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean—"

"Polite, I like it," she laughed. "So, how do you know Kairi?"

"Oh, we—we go _way_ back."

"You do?"

"Yeah, um. Like…six months."

"Nice. And you and her…?"

"We're friends. We met when she moved in last summer," his lips tilted in a smile. "Neighbours."

"That's lovely. So, tell me about your family then?"

"Uh—I have two brothers, one's my twin and the other…"

It went on, and Sora had just started getting into a rant about what he felt for his Dad when he seemed to catch himself. He scowled at Arecia, obviously just coming to realize he'd let her inside his head, and she laughed with her eyes. "Right. Now that I've had a little fun getting into your friend's head, let's talk about you, shall we? How was your day?"

I cleared my throat, trying to figure out where to start. I returned Sora's lingering gaze, almost wincing at the emotion in them, the concern and the protectiveness and this mix of patience and impatience. He obviously wasn't going to give up until I'd told Arecia.

I remembered how he'd looked the day before, how desperate and torn with worry he'd been, and I knew there wasn't any other option. "There's something I need…to tell you." I paused. "In—in private."

He whipped his head around to look at me, shock and concern written all over his face. I gave him a nod, begging him to be able to trust me, and he did. He got to his feet, patted the top of my head, lingered by the door only a few seconds. And then he was gone.

Arecia sat patiently, an expectant eyebrow raised. I swallowed thickly, my hands getting clammy and my heart beating like a hummingbird. I drew my bottom lip between my teeth and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down enough to start. This had been a bad idea, a terrible idea, but it was too late now, there was no turning back, and Sora was out there waiting for me. He believed in me at least, even if I didn't believe in myself.

I cleared my throat. "Well I…there's something I've been needing to tell you—everyone, actually and—like—" I paused, taking a deep breath. "Something happened…on my fifteenth birthday. Something horrible."

Arecia nodded slowly. "Would it bother you if I asked if you could elaborate on that?"

I deliberated, but I was already struggling to stop myself from shaking, so I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I can't—it still haunts me and whenever I talk about it it just—it makes it so much more real."

She nodded understandingly, but then she leaned forward on her desk, looking me straight in the eyes. "I just want you to know Kairi that I'm here for you, you can tell me everything. Anything you tell me behind these four walls is strictly confidential, unless you tell me you're doing something that could be endangering your health. I care about you, Kairi. I really do. And I'm not saying this because it's my job and I'm getting paid to do it, I'm saying this because I think you're a beautiful young woman and deserve somebody looking out for you."

And so I told her. Not exactly—I heavily beat around the bush just so I would never have to say the word, and I didn't let her in on the details even I was trying to forget. But I told her about the two years I'd been bullied, the nightmares, what had happened with Riku. I cried a little. And she listened.

By the time the hour rolled by, I'd experienced such an overwhelming breeze of relief it was almost staggering. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders—not all of it, but at least a significant portion. Arecia said exactly what I needed to hear from her, an assurance that what I'd been experiencing was more than normal, and a promise that she'd keep a look out for me. She carefully avoided the entire Riku topic, which I was strangely grateful for.

She asked if I'd told Sora, to which I replied yes. "He's…he's actually the only reason I'm here telling you all this…he said telling people would help; he hasn't been treating me _differently _since I told him, but he's been fussing over me a lot more. He figured if I told someone else it'd help. Surprisingly enough he actually knew what he was saying for once."

I could almost hear her smile. "He seems like such a wonderful guy—and he's gorgeous too. Hop on it, he's a keeper."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"So Nationals are this weekend and we're still one player down since Riku's gone so I'm thinking of standing in for him. You know. Til he gets back and yeah."

Sora had a mouth full of pot noodles, his legs crossed on the sofa, his eyes focused on the episode of _Gossip Girl _and no hint of any pretense on his face. He was being one hundred percent serious, and it took me everything not to snort in his face.

"Taking Riku's place as team captain. Really, Sora."

"Why not? I mean, they need an extra player and it's sort of my fault Riku's—yeah."

"You honestly think this is a good idea?"

He hesitated. "I don't—they need my help—"

"No they don't." I deadpanned. One think I hated was people being taken advantage of, the other was watching people humiliate themselves. Especially Sora. "You need to stop being so damn generous with everyone. You can't fix _everything_, Sora."

He pouted. "Well I can at least _try_."

I sighed. We sat in silence, watching the screen. I could barely focus on anything Nate was telling Serena and I'd long lost the plot of the episode; my mind had already strayed to Sora. I worried about him a lot—maybe more than I ought to have. I didn't get how he could be so nice and helpful and cheerful and giving.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, watching his jaw muscles work as he inhaled another loaded fork of noodles. I remembered the time he'd confessed to me about Roxas, and how scared he was for him, and how upset he was about his parents fighting. It seemed like ages ago, even though it had only been a few weeks into the school year when it happened. He had a lot going on, but I felt like he believed he had to keep it all bottled in. Ironic.

I carefully kept my eyes trained on the screen. "I don't know. I just feel like—like you're spending so much time worrying about other people's problems that you don't spend enough time focusing on your own."

He looked serious for a second, and then he burst out laughing. The sound changed my mood entirely, strangely relaxing me. He shook his head. "Kairi, don't. I'm—I _like_ helping people out, playing the hero, whatever. I'm fine." His cheeks dimpled in a grin. "And if I ever need help, you'll be there for me, right?"

"Yeah. Of course I will."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The match was on Sunday, and he invited me to come with him before he remembered I wasn't exactly on good terms with Radiant Garden and that it might not be the best idea.

I wished him good luck, making him swear to be safe. Yuffie, Lenne, Selphie and Yuna were jetting off with them to support their boyfriends and promised to update me second for second…so I pretty much had the entire Sunday to myself.

And I decided to use it to apologize to spend some time with Namine…that is if she forgave me for how much of a bitch I'd been to her the last time I'd seen her.

Sunday was one of her us days, one of the days my mom made her stay the night. Namine hadn't been staying with us much recently, for reasons only I was aware of, and mom was getting upset. I didn't know when she'd arrived but I woke up with her legs tangled up in mine and her cheek squished up against her pillow. She looked so peaceful, so innocent, when she was asleep, the crease lines disappeared from her forehead, her lips opened slightly. She didn't snore, she never had. Her hair fell in tangled waves over her closed eyes. Every so often she'd pull her bottom lip in between her teeth, and then let it go again, like it was a reflex. I reached up to stroke her cheek, cringing at how cold and pale it was. As I looked at her tiny form, all I could think about was how much I wanted to protect her from any harm, how much I was willing to give to stop anyone from hurting her.

My eyes dropped to her stomach. I had no idea how many months she was into the pregnancy, but I swore I was starting to see a bump. My hand found its way to the bottom of her shirt, hovering over the space between my hand and the fabric hesitantly. I sighed, bringing my eyes level with Namine's, and nearly jumping out of bed when I realized they were open.

They were stone cold and emotionless, and I winced. "Namine—"

Her nostrils flared as she tugged her shirt downwards, facing the other way with a huff.

I groaned. "Namine, don't—"

"I'm tired shut up."

I frowned at her bluntness, trying my best to brush it off. I sighed and got out of bed, heading to my bathroom to take a shower. I was planning on taking Namine out, since this was probably going to be one of the only days she was stuck with me. I didn't exactly know where; we'd improvise.

Namine was still in bed when I came out, and I thanked whoever was up there for that, because I was convinced she was going to make a runner as soon as I left her alone. She didn't smile when she saw me. "How was your night?"

She shrugged, pulling on the sleeve of her sweater. I didn't know why she was wearing a sweater in this weather, but I didn't ask questions.

I pulled on a shirt and shorts and headed downstairs to make breakfast. I needed Namine in a good mood so I made some onion pancakes, which were her absolute favorite. I was setting the table when she came downstairs, still in her pajamas. I tried not to show how relieved I was that she wasn't showing any sign of leaving soon.

She made a sound between a gasp and a squeak. "Onion cakes?"

That's what she always used to call them. I felt myself smile. "We had some onions and leftover flour so. Enjoy." I handed her a plate and she took them, staring at the pile of pancakes like she couldn't look away.

She didn't even wait until she was sitting down before scarfing down her meal, shoving pancake after pancake into her suddenly enlarged mouth with a ferocity that could only be rivaled by a hungry Sora. I watched her eat for a while until she noticed, coughing nervously into her first. "Sorry. Pregnancy thing. You know, extra mouth to feed."

I laughed out loud at that, unable to stop for at least a whole minute, and she smiled for the first time that morning. We ate in silence for a while, and I put on the radio. We did the dishes to 'Call Me Maybe', which sounded like a good idea in my head but only ended up getting soap everywhere. Namine, surprisingly, knew all the words, but she was truly in her zone when a huge Taylor Swift anthem came on next.

We danced around the kitchen and sang cheesy pop songs and for a while it was just like old times…until she bumped into a chair on her stomach and I literally screamed.

She hardly seemed to even notice where she'd hit herself, but I flipped, grabbing her by her arms and frantically searching her stomach for a bruise and wondering whether or not she'd had a miscarriage and—

"What are you _doing_?!" She pushed me off her, furious.

"I just—I thought you—"

She turned on her heels and stormed upstairs, slamming the door to my bedroom behind her.

* * *

She came down at least half an hour later, after I'd finished washing the dishes and had started on my Literature essay. Her hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing one of my cardigans and a pair of my shorts. She took a seat next to me on the couch, reaching for the remote.

"Hey."

"Hi."

We didn't say much else, she found an old episode of _Skins _and I attempted to explain the destructive power of guilt and what it did to Dimmesdale and it was almost two when I finally snapped.

I took the remote from her and switched off the TV, scrapped my homework and got to my feet. Namine squeaked in protest and I patiently waited for her to get to her feet. "That's it—we're going out."

"But I don't want to—"

"This is the only day we're ever going to get to spend together for a long time and I just. I don't want to spend it with you not talking to me. Please."

She seemed to have an inner battle, her face scrunching and unscrunching, but she finally gave in. "Fine."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

We headed down to the beach, as usual, stopping at the ice cream parlor for some cones—strawberry-paopu for me and mint-pistachio for Namine. It was sunny but not scorching—a comfortable weather if you weren't in, like, a cardigan.

Namine was obviously suffering the brunt of the summery weather, her fringe sticking to her forehead and her temples beaded with sweat. She licked her lips every five seconds and wouldn't stop wiping her forehead, and eventually I couldn't help myself. "Up for a swim?"

She shook her head at first, of course. "I'm not really…" She gestured to her cardigan.

"Don't worry, I'll buy you one." It was Destiny Islands and Destiny Islands was a tourist attraction, so of course there were various mini-cabins set up across the beach where merchants sold quick-access swimsuits and bikinis. Namine was more of a swimsuit person, so I bought her a frilly white and yellow one. I thought it'd look adorable on her but she was less than enthusiastic.

I sighed in exasperation. "Namine come on. No one's here; put it on."

"But—"

I glared at her so hard she had to give in, and she mumbled something about regretting it later on before grumpily retreating into one of the changing rooms.

She emerged minutes later in the swimsuit, looking so adorable I couldn't help but squeal. I tried not to overdo it to save her the embarrassment. She looked gorgeous—she wasn't the curviest girl on the planet but the frills took care of that. It was innocent in that way that made it impossible to look away—exactly what I was going for.

A group of guys walked past us and whistled, and she looked about ready to run back into the cabin before I caught her by the hand and pulled her in the opposite direction.

We headed towards the shore, and I all but pushed Namine into the water. She screamed as the cold water nipped at her skin, waddling around frantically like a chicken. I barely had time to laugh—I hadn't even taken off my shirt when she launched a wave of seawater at me, making me fall back painfully with a splash. I came out coughing, my nose on fire and my entire body soaked, but Namine's whole face had lit up and she was laughing so genuinely I couldn't find it in myself to be mad at her.

We launched into a water fight, as expected, and carried on for at least another half-hour before our legs got tired and we decided to stumble back onto shore. We opted on sunbathing, agreeing that Namine needed it more than I did. We talked about—well, I talked about; the conversation was more one-sided than not—school and TV shows and caught up on each other and I told her about Sora and Riku and she listened.

"I heard about you and Riku, breaking up, I mean." She licked her lips. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

"So…you and Sora, huh?"

I squirmed. "I'm not sure you could call it that…we're friends, Namine. Like."

"But you want it to be more. Than friends I mean."

"I…haven't really thought about it. We're good as it is."

"Isn't it weird now though? Knowing he obviously likes you?"

"No."

"Lies."

I groaned, propping myself up sideways on my elbow and leaning my head on my fist. "What about you and Roxas, huh? Any updates? …asides from the…baby…"

She bristled. "I—I don't know. We talked. He hasn't really…talked to me since I told him."

I frowned, feeling the conversation take a serious turn. "So…so who's the…_father_…" It sounded bad in my head and sounded even worse out loud.

She bit her lip again. "Roxas."

"But you're not dating—"

"I know."

"But you're keeping—"

"I know."

"…Namine. What are you doing."

"I don't know."

And there it was. She was lost. Of course she was. She was turning sixteen in barely a month. I didn't expect her to know what she was doing.

I took her hand. She didn't try to squirm out of my hold, which was a good thing.

"I'm here for you, okay. Hope you know that."

"I know."

"And Sora is. Well he would be. If you wanted me to tell him."

"Please don't."

"You have to tell someone though. What's going on with you and Seifer."

She whipped her head around to stare at me in the eye, her eyes steeled all of a sudden. "Wh—you don't know anything—"

"I'm not blind, Namine. You think I don't notice how shaky you are around him, how you never ever bring him up, how jumpy you were when he came for dinner—and don't think I've just been ignoring all the bruises that appear out of nowhere. There's only so many times you can just slip and _fall_, and the bites on your neck—"

"Kairi—_stop it_." Her voice was hardly louder than mine, but for some reason my mouth shut on command. I was sitting up now, so was she, and I wasn't sure when we had but. She licked her lips again, pressing her lips together to stop them from shaking. "You don't _know anything_."

I took her word for it. "Then _let me know_, Namine. Tell me what's going on."

She shook her head, choking a sob. "I can't. I just—it's not that easy—you won't understand—"

"On my fifteenth birthday a senior forced me to have sex with him—at my own party—and I spent the next two years being bullied by him and everyone at school because I called the police. No one knows exactly what happened right now apart from Sora, and my boyfriend recently hit me and dumped me because I refused to put out. I have no idea where he is and he's convinced I didn't want to have sex with him because I'm in love with someone else—tell me again how I won't _understand_, Namine."

She stared at me, gaping. "You—you were _raped_—"

"Tell me what's up with you and Seifer right now or I _swear to God_—"

"He hits me, _ok_?" She choked out, tears rimming her eyes. "He hits me and he hurts me and sometimes I get so scared and I met Roxas and he was just so _nice _and he was always there for me when—when Seifer got really bad and I just—I guess I thought he was—we were high and Seifer wasn't home and I don't know—it was a mistake Kairi Roxas said it was a mistake both of us were a mistake I never should have met him this never should have happened—"

She completely broke down then, and I pushed myself closer to her on the sand, letting her cry into my shoulder. I kissed the top of her forehead as she bawled, whispering "_I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't know I'm sorry_" over and over and over again between her sobs, and I asked her if she wanted to head home and she said yes.

* * *

_"It was a weird, confusing space to be in because as angry as I was—as angry and hurt and betrayed—I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help…and who's going to help him? Nobody's going to say he needs help—everybody's going to say he's a monster without looking at the source…_

"_It's like you're __**screaming**__ but no one can hear. You almost feel ashamed that someone could that be that important, that without them you feel like nothing. No one will ever understand how much it hurts. You feel hopeless like nothing can save you. And when it's over and it's gone, you almost wish that you could have all that bad stuff back so you could have the good."_

* * *

**I NEED TO START UPDATING FASTER THIS JUST STOPPED BEING FUNNY WOW. **

**So here it is. Full of emotion and all that. Woo. It was supposed to be fluffy but we're saving that for the next chapter I guess. Aw. **

**This will probably end up being, like, forty chapters. Just like Addicted. We're so close to the end, it doesn't seem like it but we are. Oh. **

**READ REVIEW GUISE I'M BEHIND ON SO MUCH ILY ALL THANKS FOR STILL BOTHERING TO READ THESE UPDATES. **

**X **


	34. All Of This

**A/N: HI. IT'S 2013. I STARTED THIS FIC IN 2011. I'M CHOKING. TWO YEARS. **

**Song of the chapter: 'All of This', The Naked and the Famous.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_I didn't have any reason to worry, really._

Everyone seemed to fall in love with his cheesy smile and his curious blue eyes.

_I meet Sora's work friends._

"I feel like I can start over with them, you know?"

_I worry about Sora. As usual._

"I'm—I like helping people out, playing the hero, whatever. I'm fine."

_And I finally figure out what Namine's hiding._

"He hits me and he hurts me and sometimes I get so scared and I met Roxas and he was just so _nice_…"

* * *

**Chapter 34: All Of This**

Namine was still there when I woke up, which was a relief. She remained silent, still obviously shocked from what had happened last night, but at least she was there. I let her have a shower first, and by the time I had finished she was gone.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Before any of us knew it, it was Sora's seventeenth birthday.

Sora had made it clear beforehand that he wasn't really in the mood for "partying it up" or anything and, surprisingly enough, everyone complied. I'd assumed he was going to spend it having dinner with his family or something like that, and I was all prepared to give him his privacy for the day. So when he showed up at my door on Thursday morning, I was more than surprised. "Hey, what – "

"No questions, get your shoes, let's go." He was practically bouncing, grinning from ear-to-ear like he'd just seen the ice cream truck. He seemed to notice my skepticism, rolling his eyes. "C'mon—I'll tell you on the way."

I barely had time to wave goodbye to my Mom before I was being dragged away by Sora, his hand wrapped firmly around mine.

He barely let me put in a word edgewise, making me run with him until we'd reached the bus stop at the park, and that's when I realized what was happening. "We're not going to school are we."

"Nope."

I instinctively started to panic. "Which m-means we're skipping class."

"Well…yeah?"

"Does your Mom know about this? What if—"

"You mean you've never skipped school before?"

Well no, not technically anyway. I had spent a few periods locked up in the bathroom stalls once or twice back in the Garden when things got really bad, but I'd never left campus entirely. I wasn't really the rebellious type.

"Well there's a first for everything, right?" The bus pulled up and we climbed on. The bus driver raised an eyebrow, and I was convinced we'd been caught. "It's senior ditch day," he lied easily, while my thoughts raced at a hundred miles per hour.

I barely felt Sora's insistent tug on my arm. His eyebrows were arched in a confused expression as he ushered me to the back of the bus. He must have noticed my inner turmoil because as soon as we sat down her gripped my shoulders, searching my face. "Hey, you okay?"

I was still focusing on calming myself down, but I managed to choke out a reply. "Next time give me a warning before you _kidnap _me."

He snorted. "'Kidnap you'? Is that what's making you look like you've seen a ghost or something?"

"Yes, plus the fact that we've got, like, ten minutes until class and if we don't get to school before then, we're going to be marked absent and…" I trailed off as I saw his face begin to droop, his smirk slowly turning into a frown.

He sighed. "Look, if you really want to go back to school then fine, we'll go back to school. I…I just—" He licked his lips, debating something, and then he shook his head. "Yeah, this was a stupid idea anyway, I'm sorry…we'll—there should be a school bus we could take if we get off at the next—"

"Sora, stop." It was the stupid kicked-puppy look on his face. "Look—forget what I said okay? I was just panicking; I really _do_ want to go…wherever it is we're going."

"Really? Cause if you don't—"

"I _want _to go."

Sora stared at me for a while and then his face broke out into a goofy, dimpled smile. "Sweet!"

"As long as we're, like, not doing anything illegal or…"

"Do you trust me?" He was frowning, but there was a smile in his eyes. And even if the question was rhetorical, the answer was already out before I could stop it. _Of course I do._

* * *

We got off at Seaview Mall, and I gave Sora a dubious look. "A mall. You made me ditch school to go _shopping _with you."

"Not exactly." He whipped out a camera from seemingly nowhere and before I could blink he'd taken a picture.

I gasped, grabbing for it so I could delete the picture as soon as possible. "Ew, no, give me that—"

I heard a whirring sound – the picture he'd just taken had begun printing. The camera was bulky, but looked light, and it was way too fancy to be a Polaroid. I wondered if he'd gotten it at an antique shop.

He handed me the developing photo and snapped another one before I could protest. "Sora, what are you doing?"

"Making memories." He flashed another one and lowered the camera, a brilliant grin on his face. "Memories are important, Kairi. One day, I want to be able to look back on today and smile and think—wow, what a seventeenth birthday. You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well I think it's more—make that a million. I mean photos capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce, but when you look back at them you can relive them over and over and over again for as long as you like."

"Deep."

"I know, right."

I laughed. He snapped several more photos. "Come on, that's enough."

He stuck out his tongue but relented, strapping it around his neck. I sighed. "Well…we're here. Might as well do some shopping."

* * *

We hardly did any shopping.

We took the most ridiculous photos and selfies we could think of, posing with mannequins, trying on stupid outfits, pretending to be different people in each store. We pretended to be engaged in _Oathkeeper Jewelry_, to be related in _Burberry_. We staged a breakup in _Barnes and Noble _and fake-made out in the changing room of _Victoria's Secret_, making the loudest moaning noises until we collapsed into laughter and I swore my lungs were about to burst.

I honestly felt like I was hanging out with my best friend again.

We ended up getting kicked out of almost every store and Sora let me pick where we went next.

We bought some hotdogs and scarfed them down in seconds, and then I led Sora to the forest. I remembered I'd never showed Sora the place Namine had showed me, the place I'd shown Riku. I'd always wanted to capture the landscape there, and since I couldn't draw for shit and Sora had his fancy camera, it just felt right, really.

We got off the bus next to the forest entrance and trudged up the rising landscape. It was hot and the air was thick, the trees providing shade but not much else. I felt my shirt dampening more and more each second, and my hair sticking to the damp nape of my neck and the lining of my forehead and I had the overwhelming urge to shave it all off and go bald.

Thankfully I wasn't the only one suffering – Sora's stamina had increased since September but this wasn't _Teen Wolf _– he still had his asthma and he eventually began wheezing. He reached up to wipe his damp forehead, and my eyes fell from his face to his arm to his elbows to his thick shoulders to the tufts of hair barely visible through the sleeves of his shirt and – whoa.

I took the camera from him to distract myself, snapping furiously at everything in sight, and thankfully we reached the Place soon enough.

It was the same as I remembered – ocean for miles and the screaming sun, with perfect shade. The landscape made me feel high and brave and infinite. I took a few pictures, feeling breathless, and then snapped a picture of Sora's reaction. His mouth was wide open and he looked exactly like Riku had the first time I'd brought him here. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

We collapsed onto the grass. He let out a relieved sigh, took a puff of his inhaler. It was strangely cooler, the sea at the bottom of the cliff bringing a cool ocean breeze. "Wow. This is…nice." His eyes were closed. "I could get used to this."

"Let me guess—you've never stepped foot in the forest before."

"You guessed correctly." He shrugged. "Not everyone's willing to climb Mount Everest while there's fricking Miami Beach five steps from my house."

I rolled my eyes. Was everyone on Destiny Islands this lazy? "Charming."

We fell back into silence – we did that a lot. I watched him, studied his face, the crinkles by his eyes, the curve of his lips, his eyelashes and how they looked like a fricking raccoon. The waistband of his underwear became visible as he lifted his arms in a yawn, exposing his bare midriff, and I noticed it was a healthy tan and a much darker colour than it had been back during winter break when I'd barged into his room while he was changing. His stomach looked a lot more defined now, and I wondered if he was still as cuddly –

I didn't know what I was doing when I snapped the picture, and he squirmed slightly, his eyelids pulling open. He laughed. "Like what you see."

"Hm. I'll need to do a little airbrushing though."

He attempted to shove me, but his arms were weak. I snapped a few more pictures just to spite him. He laughed, resting his head on the back of his palms. His eyes were still closed, and I spent what felt like forever just staring at his face before shuffling next to him. He squirmed a little, attempting to move to let me have a more comfortable position, but I stopped him and made it clear I was content just lying there next to him. Our knuckled brushed at our sides, warmth from his fingers seeping into my veins. I could hear the rise and fall of his chest, the wind tugging at what was left of his spikes.

It was one of those moments, just Sora and me and nature. And I could hear everything around us if I tried hard enough – the rustle of the trees, the chirping of the birds, the repeated rolling of the tide and the crashing waves. I still hadn't gotten over how much I loved Destiny Islands. The beach and the sun and the life and the vitality and how happy everyone seemed to be.

I wondered what my life would have been like if I'd never moved. "Can you believe it's been a year since I moved here?"

"Feels like you've been here forever. To think I had no idea who you were six months ago." I scowled and he laughed. "Seriously, though. Do you think…if we'd never met the way we had…we'd still be friends right now?"

I thought about it. If I'd never met Sora the way I did, by running into his locker and having him walk me to class…

In all honesty, I had no idea. By the end of the summer I'd been so intent on being popular and forgetting my messed up past. I'd been all set that day to change my life, to start from scratch, to befriend all the right people. I had no idea whether I would have risked social scrutiny to help a random boy. I had no idea whether I would have even given him a second glance. I had no idea if I would have ever spoken up to Riku on how he treated Sora or if I would have just let it happen.

But that didn't matter. I couldn't remember a time Sora hadn't been there – and trying to think about it just made my head hurt. I couldn't see a past without him and I couldn't see a future without him in it – he was such an essential part of my life it was almost scary.

"Maybe not. But—that doesn't matter; what matters is that we're friends now, understand?"

He smiled, and it hurt. "…I'm glad I met you, Kairi."

* * *

It was nice, for once, to not have to think about anything. The sound of the waves had that calming effect on me, completely clearing my mind of any comprehensive thought, and I just felt light and bouncy and buoyant, and I could hear Sora breathing next to me, and in that moment I swear everything was perfect. I sort of understood where Sora was going with that whole 'capturing memories' analogy.

I hadn't felt this way in a long time, since September and meeting Sora. I remembered feeling different whenever I was with him – impulsive and boisterous and fun – and feeling little and small and inadequate next to everyone else. I hadn't felt this free in months, and years before that, and I was sure as hell going to savour the feeling while it lasted.

I got to my feet. I wanted to do something risky for once, to feel the adrenalin pumping through my veins and feel what it's like to live on the edge. I'd spent too long being way too safe about everything, and I felt long due for an awakening.

Also Rikku and Paine had said something about doing it once. And Yuna had abseiled and almost everyone I knew had been on a hot air balloon, and I was living in a tourist attraction and hadn't done anything remotely worth telling people about since I got here.

I looked over the edge. The cliff was steep – really steep – which I figured was a good thing. I had no idea how far the drop was, but the water looked clear and blue and beckoning.

I stripped down to my underwear, which I figured would serve as a good enough swimsuit –

"What are you doing?"

For a second I'd forgotten he was there. I threw him a smile. "Thought I'd go for a dive."

"What."

"I heard the water's warm during the summer, specially this side of the island, huh?"

He looked at me like I was insane. "Do – Kairi, do you have any idea if it's even safe?"

I shrugged, psyching out his words and preparing for the dive. "We'll never know if we don't try, right?"

He hesitated. "Kairi, wait—"

"What – are you scared?"

I took a step back, and he stumbled to his feet. He looked a little dazed.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he or anyone else could convince me otherwise, I took a leap and threw myself over the edge.

I was falling through the air, possibly plummeting to my death in the freezing cold ocean, but I'd never felt more alive.

I could feel everything. I could hear everything. The whooshing sound of the breeze in my ears, the incessant thudding of my heart in my chest, the wind nipping at my hair like an angry blow-dryer. I could barely breathe, even though I was surrounded by oxygen; it was almost funny. The air tickled my stomach and filled my lungs until I thought they were about to burst, but I felt as light as a feather and as free as a bird.

I didn't know why I started laughing.

I almost thought I imagined the screaming, until I realized Sora had, in fact, jumped in after me. He was flailing, looking absolutely terrified. His hair was having a party and he seemed to have no sense of direction. I wondered absently if he'd ever dived before, because if he hadn't...

I barely had time to give him a reassuring squeeze before the started rapidly approaching the surface. "Hold your breath!" I took the largest gulp of air I could and dipped my body forward, hoping he'd somehow take the hint and do the same.

And then we broke the water, and at first all I could hear was a scream of bubbles and a splash, and then complete silence.

I opened my eyes as the bubbles subsided, and it took everything in me not to gasp. The sea seemed to stretch on and on for miles, the sunlight shining light on the coral reef we'd nearly landed in. There were fish of all kinds, still recovering from the shock but still there, flitting in and out of their tiny houses. There were greens and reds and oranges and yellows, all in the gigantic sea of blue, and all I could hear was the sound of my heart thumping. I felt like it was about to explode.

I wanted more than anything to grow gills on the spot and stay down there forever, but that was impossible, and Sora was behind me in nothing but his boxers and a priceless look of panic on his face, and I couldn't hold my breath much longer.

I burst into laughter as soon as we reached the surface, watching helplessly as Sora hacked out whatever water he still had in his lungs. His cheeks were burning and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights, only completely soaked. His hair still stuck up at random, even with his new hairstyle, and the water splayed everywhere when he shook his head as we headed to the shore at the bottom of the cliff. The sand on the shore looked yellow and soft, and if I wasn't too busy laughing at Sora's expense I might have sulked over the fact that we'd left the camera. "Your face! You were – you…"

It was only then that I noticed the way he was looking at me, his eyes saying a thousand words at once. He was staring, and it was like he'd forgotten how to blink. The emotion in his gaze lifted up goosebumps on my bare arms. His stare wasn't harsh, or heated, or dark – it was soft, like he was looking at a teddy bear and trying to resist from hugging it.

Soon enough I was staring at him too, how good he looked in the sun with his wet hair and his soft cerulean eyes and his mouth and the beat of his heart drumming through the silence like an orchestra. His hands ghosted my skin and I forgot how to breathe, I could feel him even though he wasn't touching. He was looking at me in that way he sometimes did – whenever we were doing something random like eating ice cream or watching Disney movies or arguing over TV shows and he'd stop suddenly and look at me like I was the sun and I'd ignore it because I didn't want to believe it was true. I'd convince myself I was romanticizing, creating something out of nothing, and we'd go back to doing whatever we'd been doing and I'd forget about it.

I had no idea what was going on, but all I knew was if he didn't kiss me I was going to explode.

And then he got this pained look in his eyes, and he started pulling away. His arms fell back to his sides, like they'd never left, and then he nodded, like he was trying to convince himself something, and something in me snapped.

I grabbed him by the wrist and gave him a look that I hoped said everything I wanted it to say, and then I kissed him.

He melted immediately. His lips were softer than I remembered and so was his kiss – velvety and slow, and not nearly as crazy as the others had been, and maybe that's what made it so special. It was warm and languid, like a walk in the park, and it said so much more than I thought it would say. I was kissing him with a paragraph and he was replying with a novel, and it was scary in the same way jumping off the cliff had been – scary, but so damn exciting.

Sora tasted like the sea and felt like sunrise and I couldn't believe I'd almost let him get away.

His eyes were glazed when we pulled away, still waist-deep in ocean but hardly paying any attention to the waves, or the setting sun, or anything, really, except each other.

And then he seemed to hesitate, like he just realized what he'd been kissing me. I stopped him from trying to pull away again.

He looked as confused as he did guilty. "…what…does this mean?"

I sort of got it. I was the one who'd said we should just be friends, and that I needed to figure things out…but all I knew was that he was important to me and he tasted like home and I never wanted to stop kissing him.

So I said: "Sora." A kiss. "And Kairi."

Because, really, why did things have to change?

* * *

We spent a lot of the way back up just kissing each other, between laughs and smiles and Sora's terrible jokes, and once we'd retrieved the camera I took as many pictures of him as I could, because I was pretty sure this day had to have been one of the best days in my entire life. We kissed as much as we could on the bus back, and I remembered how freaked out I'd been about skipping class, and how it was oh, so worth it.

We were trying to kiss each other in the middle of a tickle fight when an old guy with a cane whacked Sora on the arm.

"Ow!" Sora cradled his elbow in pain. "What was that –"

"You are in a public place, this isn't Rocky Horror!" He grumbled. "Show some consideration!"

We waited until he'd gotten off the bus before bursting out laughing and didn't stop until we were dropped off. I invited Sora in but he said he had dinner plans – of course he did. He handed me what was left of the photos – he said they were safer with me – kissed me again, and then disappeared inside.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

I was in a pretty kickass mood for the rest of the evening.

Mum was working late and I successfully managed to delete the voicemail school had sent alerting her about me missing school, which was a stroke of luck, really. Namine came over around seven, and we ordered pizza. She fell asleep on the couch downstairs while watching one of the movies Sora had leant me – The Fox and the Hound. I'd watched it several times with Sora and I knew the plot inside and out, but I needed something to occupy my sister and she liked movies with talking animals, so. Trying to lift her while she was sleeping was like trying to lift a ten-ton lorry, so I gave her a blanket and a kiss and retreated upstairs.

My phone was laddered with texts – one from Yuna about missing Glee practice, a few from Rikku about guy issues, a few from Penelo knowing I skipped class and asking if I wanted the homework – bless her.

I was texting Rikku when I got a text from Sora. He rarely used his phone – he didn't really see a need, he'd told me once – so it kind of shocked me. _The window._

I peeled back my makeshift curtain and sure enough there he was, sitting by his window. He was in his boxers and it might have been sexy had he not looked so visibly drained. I took a notebook and pen from my desk and pulled myself a chair of my own. _You ok? _

He shook his head and looked around for some paper. _not rly. theyre fighting agian. _

I wished Namine had been awake. She would have loved it. So 'Taylor Swift'. '_want to talk about it?'_

Apparently Sora wasn't feeling it. He picked up his phone and called me.

"Aw. I was really starting to like the whole old-fashioned, Taylor Swift-esque mode of communication."

He snorted. "Yeah, but I suck at spelling and you know it."

"True." I paused. "This isn't that bad. I like hearing your voice." I locked eyes with him through the window. His cheeks flared with color. God, I'd missed that. "And I like seeing you blush."

He leaned into his palm, trying to cover his face in a way that looked natural. I laughed.

"So. Talk to me."

"Well we had birthday dinner. Like, an actual meal. The chicken wasn't even store-bought. And we had Shepherd's Pie. Tasted like sex."

"Sora, you're a virgin."

"You don't know that."

I gave him a look.

"Touché."

I laughed. "So did you just call me up to talk about how good your dinner was or…?"

He was smiling, but it was a sad kind of smile. I suddenly felt bad for asking. I didn't have time to apologize, though – he launched back into conversation in a splitsecond. "I'm setting the scene here, Kairi. Storyteller's policy." He cleared his throat. "So we're eating this godsend of a meal, right, and we're all happy and Roxas is actually honest-to-God grinning – and it's not his Joker grin it's his I'm-so-fucking-happy grin, you know? And I was thinking like this makes up for all the birthdays we missed all these years…and for some reason Zack thinks it's a good idea to break the news that he's leaving in less than a month." He didn't wait for me to ask. "Leaving as in going to the front lines. As in going to war."

I winced. I didn't know what to think, really. I knew how it felt having someone in your family in a danger zone – my Dad spent 90% of his time at work in the sky. And just when we'd all thought Sora's family was finally on the mend.

I listened to him as he continued, talking about how they were fighting again, how afraid he was for Zack, how much he wanted to hate Zack but he couldn't. I'd probably seen Zack maximum ten times since I'd met Sora, and half of them had been passing glances, so I didn't really know that much about him. But it was beyond obvious that he and Zack had a shaky relationship.

The thing about Sora was he always strived to look for the best in everything. He loved making people happy and he constantly put others before himself. He rarely let anyone see him upset – except me that was. He still attempted to put up a wall when he could, but he was a lot more reckless with me. He let me see through the brave exterior he constantly wore, he complained to me and he let me listen. I'd been the first person he'd come to about his family issues, back when we'd barely known each other for a week. He swore he liked throwing himself into fixing other peoples' problems, and I believed him, but I knew he didn't give himself enough time to worry about his own problems, no matter how much he denied it. Whenever he did let me in, it was like I was getting a side of him no one else saw, and for a moment I'd feel closer to him than I ever did before. It didn't happen often, but when it did, I savoured every minute of it.

Which was why I willed myself to stay awake until he was done.

"I'm sorry, I'm probably boring the crap out of you and – "

"Stop it, Sora. I like – I want to listen to your problems. Stop acting like you don't have a right to complain about anything, because you do, and I want to be the one you complain about them to."

I was half-asleep, thus the messy sentence structure. A smile tugged at the edge of his lips. "Nicely put. But, thanks." A pause. "I don't know what to do. Today was going so well too. I'm never going to catch a break am I."

"Probably not." I yawned obnoxiously before I could stop myself. If Sora noticed, he didn't say.

I listened to him talk, not really hearing what he was saying but nodding and humming appropriately. I felt like I'd run a marathon – jumping off cliffs and climbing up and down hills and running around an island did that to you – and my body was screaming at me to go back to bed and curl up in the covers, and I fought like a gladiator. I might have succeeded had Sora's voice not been so soothing and warm, like a lullaby.

"You didn't hear a thing I just said, did you."

"Mu – I'm awake I promise – "

A laugh. "Goodnight, Kairi."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was like all the awkwardness from the previous few weeks had disappeared, and Sora and I were back to normal again. And honestly, that was all I ever wanted.

Only now I got to kiss him. Which was a perk.

I never kissed him in school though, for numerous reasons – some of those reasons being Selphie and Rikku and their inability to keep their mouths shut, along with the constant bombardment of "are you guys dating" and the unrelenting insistence to know about our sex life that was sure to follow.

I tried convincing myself that was it, that I didn't want the drama of everyone at school nitpicking at our relationship, but I knew it was something bigger than that.

I didn't see why we couldn't just be Sora and Kairi. Best friends, like we always had been, without…the labels. We still hugged, we still held hands, and I still kissed him on the cheek, because before it got weird and feelings got in the way that had always been standard.

Plus, I knew if I tried to give what we had something permanent, it'd only backfire. Silly as it sounded, I didn't want to jinx everything. Labels were never a good idea, I knew that much.

And I hoped Sora did, too. He didn't seem to have a problem with it, and if he did he didn't show it. And that was enough, really. At least for now.

The awkwardness was gone and all that was left was me and him, and I couldn't have been happier.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"So how are things with you and Sora?"

"…we're happy."

* * *

**I tried to think of 94839383 ways I could end this chapter, but. It's short, and it sucks, but. IT'S SOMETHING, RIGHT.**

**My update schedule is getting lazy, I know. I'm struggling through writer's block and trying not to fail junior year. JUNIOR YEAR. TO THINK I STARTED THIS FIC AS A FRESHMAN? **

**Anyway, thanks so much for your patience guys. And as a reward for your patience…I'M RELEASING THE NEXT ADDICTED CHAPTER EARLY. As in Friday. Promise. **

**The next chapter will be a lot better, and the plot will move a lot more. Also…SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED. And such.**

* * *

**Sneek Peek: **

_"We need to tell Mom."_

_"She's pregnant."_

_"Riku?"_

* * *

**EXPECT THE NEXT CHAPTER TO BE TWICE AS LONG. AND TWICE AS PACKED WITH PLOT AND SUCH. **

**Also guys, keep the reviews critical, like, I need honest feedback. :) **

**R&R**


	35. Please Don't Say You Love Me

**A/N: I like this chapter :)**

**Song of the Chapter: **_**Please Don't Say You Love Me, **_**by Gabrielle Aplin.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sora and I spent his 17__th__ birthday together…_

"Do you trust me?"

_And we kiss…AGAIN._

"…what…does this mean?"

_And Sora and I are happy. Really, why does anything have to change?_

* * *

**Chapter 35: Please Don't Say You Love Me**

* * *

_Summer comes, winter fades_

_Here we are just the same_

_We don't need pressure, we don't need change_

_Let's not give the game away_

* * *

Summer was approaching, and so were the play, Glee Finals, and the end of the year. And I knew I should have been a lot more nervous, scared even, but ever since the cliff dive I'd felt lighter and more carefree. Everything was going to work out, somehow, I told myself – it was hard not to smile and have hope when the sun rose every morning brighter than the last, the summery breeze my everyday wake-up call.

And Sora, of course. It was hard not to smile when he was around.

* * *

"I'm gonna miss you guys…" Rikku whined into her salad, pouting. "Can't believe you're not gonna be here next year."

"_Aw_," Yuna pulled Rikku closer and planted a playful kiss on her forehead. Her other hand was clasped lightly around Tidus', and her smile was easy. Ever since she and Tidus had gotten together, she'd been a walking ray of sunshine. So had Tidus, in a way.

We were all on pretty high spirits. Yuna had announced that she'd been granted permission to graduate early, being a straight-A student and a bit of a genius. She'd been accepted into at least four colleges already, but she only wanted to go to the one in Spira – their arts programs were apparently stellar over there. She wanted to pursue her dream of doing music therapy and she wanted the crème de la crème.

Tidus still had another year, and I could tell it bothered him, but Yuna was under the impression that he was going to follow her there, and though they hadn't talked about it yet, they still had the rest of the summer. So there wasn't much of an issue there.

Shuyin had sent his college application to Spira a week after losing at Nationals and was still awaiting a reply – not that he thought he was ever going to get accepted. He had a few backup choices, so did Wakka, and I could tell they still weren't completely over their big loss. But summer was approaching and they were slowly recovering, because with the smell of summer came the smell of hope.

Fang was graduating too, and though we weren't exactly best friends, I was going to miss her, in a way. I was going to miss all of them. Lenne and Rikku would still be there, but it'd be weird, losing almost half of our group.

Shuyin was already arranging a graduation party at his and Tidus'. Fang had been named valedictorian. Selphie would not shut up about prom preparations – because she'd recently become head of the Prom Committee, which was a big deal for her. Even with Riku gone, life was going on.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It's not like I had time to anyway.

* * *

I'd snuck into his room, when he was feeding Pascal, and found his stuffed toys. They were under his bed, an entire box of them, but the ones I noticed first were the Donald and Goofy ones. They were ginormous, and smelled of him, and I wondered if he slept with them. He'd seen me looking through the box and his face took on a look of horror, his cheeks peppered a dangerous shade of red. He'd wrestled the box away from me and I'd started laughing and somewhere along the line we'd started making out on his carpet and forgotten we were supposed to be doing homework and he'd called me a bad influence and I didn't mind.

Ever since we'd become friends-with-sort-of-benefits, I'd started appreciating parts of Sora I hadn't ever really appreciated before. Like his eyebrows. It was hard to even notice he had eyebrows with eyes like his and a fringe like that but they were nice, and expressive, and complimented his face the way they should have. Kissing him made me appreciate other things, like the spaces between his fingers and his tongue and the edges of his mouth, and it was weird. In a nice way. I liked weird.

I found myself fascinated by the way he looked when he was lost in thought. How his eyes creased when he glanced, the way he moved when he walked. How he could say something while his eyes said the other, and, when he wanted to, be completely and utterly direct with you. He wasn't a person – he was an experience. And it annoyed me how he didn't even realize it. He didn't realize how everyone around him leaned towards him when he smiled.

* * *

"_I'm happy about my friendship with Sora. Like, we've only been friends for months and it feels like I've known him forever. We're so different yet so compatible…he says things that make me feel special and I just know he means them. I always feel safe when he's holding me… I love how I can be a total pig around him, stuff my face with popcorn and dance to terrible music even though I suck at dancing and still feel comfortable. I love the way he watches me when I do things and just smiles…_

"_My family makes me happy. We're small and a bit dysfunctional, we've had our ups and downs but I don't mind. I love my Mum and how she goes out of her way to make all three of us happy – me, Namine and my Dad. I love my Dad, I love that I know him well enough to know even though he's in the air half of the time he still thinks about me. I know he's protective but I like knowing he's looking out for me and wants me to do my best, and I want to do my best for him. I love seeing all of them smile, seeing how I've grown in the past year. I love Namine to bits, even though we don't talk half as much as we used to. I love how guarded she is, I love that she's trying to open up to me. I love having her as my sister. I love my family, and we don't always talk but I love knowing we can just spend an evening on the couch watching those Korean dramas Dad hates and still be able to finish off each other's sentences. _

"_I'm happy about my friends. When I first moved here I was convinced everyone here was shallow, and maybe there still is a little part of me that thinks that? But I've realized they're important to me. They make me laugh, they make me happy. We don't see eye to eye on everything, and I haven't experienced half the things everyone else has, so maybe I'm a lagging behind? But I can't wait to make so many more memories with them. I'm tired of frowning and assuming the worst in everyone. _

"_I'm happy because of all the things I've seen, done and learned since I moved here. My eyes have been opened to a lot of things – the good and the bad. I love being on these Islands, seeing the ocean and clear skies and being a car ride away from the beach. It's like I'm living in a dream, honestly. I love being in glee club and knowing I'm good at something. I've loved winning with a group of people I've come to love and making people smile. I love that I've found a new passion. I've met amazing people through the things I've done. The memories make me happy. _

"_And I guess…I'm happy because I'm happy. I'm happy I've learned to smile in the past few months, to see the good in people, to look at every day like there's a new sun rising each morning. I think positive thinking and persistence can get you anywhere. I believe it's the key to success…and I almost have it."_

* * *

_There used to be an empty space_

_A photograph without a face_

_But with your presence, and your grace_

_Everything falls into place_

* * *

By Friday Sora and I mutually agreed we were all prepared for the play and decided to meet up for revision for finals instead. I didn't really need that much help, but Sora was still lost when it came to Calculus, so we arranged to meet up at mine that afternoon.

I was pouring some drinks for the both of us when the bell rang. I frowned a little. Sora was never early, so it couldn't have been him, and my Mum was at work. I casually wondered if the pregnant lady from across the street had finally given birth, or something.

It was Vanitas at the door. He looked taller and tanner than he had the last time I'd seen him, and still smelt faintly of smoke. The safari t-shirt he was wearing hurt my eyes and the Ray-Bans perched on his messy head of hair made his outfit all the more ridiculous. But this was Van, and I should have been used to this by now.

"Van! Hey, when did you – "

"Pack your bag, bitch – we're going for a ride!" He cheered.

I stared at him, choosing to ignore the fact he'd just called me a bitch – I was also used to that by now. "What?"

"Grab a bikini and something sexy – Sora's waiting outside – I won't be answering any questions til you do as I tell you, so move your ass!"

I scowled at him, but obeyed anyway. I was secretly excited – I liked adventure, in a way. I left a note on the kitchen fridge, keeping it as vague as possible. I grabbed my beach bag and sunhat – I knew it'd come in handy eventually – picked out three of my best bikinis and a random selection of clothes and CDs – I had no idea what Van listened to and if we were going on a road trip I needed to be safe – and ran outside.

Van and Sora were already waiting next to a – _holy shit. _

It was a sleek, spotless _red _convertible that looked like it had been pulled straight out of a car commercial. I nearly screamed. "Is this yours?!"

He nodded, and I couldn't help myself. It was basically my dream car…and _Van _was driving it. Why wasn't he my brother? "SHOTGUN!"

I jumped into the passenger seat, nearly crying at how gorgeous the dashboard looked. It had an in-built GPS, FM radio, air-conditioning, USB ports and giant cup-holders. I just.

Sora got in the back and Van turned on the engine. We headed off. I had no idea where we were going, but we were in a car that smelled like expensive perfume and I wasn't complaining.

Van switched on the radio to the Top 40, and we spent the next hour singing along to every song that played. Van was almost embarrassingly bad but he didn't seem to care. He let the top down as we zoomed along the highway, and I felt like I was in some kind of Mary Kate and Ashley movie. The scenery was amazing – the roads wound up hills and cliffs overlooking the ocean that surrounded the Destiny Islands. It should have been scary but it was strangely exhilarating.

Singing eventually got tiring and I absently switched stations.

_But if I wait for a holiday_

_Could it stop my fear?_

_To go away on a summer's day_

_Never seemed so clear_

Sora made a noise, telling me not to change the station. Apparently he recognized the song. "What?"

He swayed his head left to right in time with the drums. "I love this song. _Vampire Weekend_."

I had no idea what he was talking about. "Vampire what?"

"I think Roxas listens to them."

Van snorted. "For the love of God, Sora, if you turn into a hipster-wannabe Debby Downer like him I will kill myself."

I laughed. Sora pouted. "This is a good song, though?"

"Not feeling it." I dug in my bag for my CDs. I knew they'd come in handy. "I brought some _Destiny's Child_."

"You just happened to have a random _Destiny's Child_ CD in your possession." He should have known by now, honestly.

"_Number #1s_, actually. For emergencies?"

Van groaned into the steering wheel. "You serious? This is even more depressing than the Vampire shit."

I skipped to track 11 on purpose. I knew how much Sora couldn't stand _'Bootylicious'_. "~_Kelly, can you handle this? Michelle, can you handle this? Beyoncé, can you handle this? I don't think you can handle this?_"

Vanitas looked about ready to die. "Sora, shut her up, _please_."

I laughed.

* * *

Sora had a beach house. A _fricking beach house_.

It was sunset when we got there, which made the entire thing look all the more like it had been ripped out of _90210_. The house wasn't massive, but I'd never had a beach house, so it was more than impressive to me. It had a caramel and red-brown colour scheme, flower pots on the window-sills, and fancy lights hanging on either side of the door.

It was even better inside. It was spacious and spotless, with four bedrooms, an open kitchen, a living room with a huge TV, a game room…and a veranda with a view of the beach that was their backyard. I felt like I was looking at something off Tumblr, or out of one of my Mum's interior decorating catalogs. If she'd seen this she would have fainted.

Now I knew most of my friends had beach houses – hell, Tidus and Shuyin's house was a beach house – but I'd never imagined Sora did. He wasn't _poor _per se…he just didn't look like someone who did. I held back a squeal.

"Master bedroom's mine!" Van said barely seconds after we'd set foot inside. Sora had a look on his face, almost nostalgic. I followed him to one of the rooms near the end of the left hallway. The walls were painted sea blue and there was a double-bunk on the right corner near the window. There was a toy-box next to the bed, but apart from that it was pretty much empty.

"This used to be me and Roxas' room." He sighed weakly. He grimaced, pointing at the frieze that ran across all four walls. It was decorated with red-and-yellow fish with glowing scales and huge round eyes that looked like they'd come from a children's cartoon. "God, those used to give me nightmares."

I laughed. I remembered seeing the frieze in one of Sora's baby pictures. "Hm…" I went across the hall and found another empty room. It was probably Sora's other older brother's room – Ventus'. There was nothing left there but a bed. Well.

I dropped my bag on the bed and padded my way to the living room in my bare feet. The bamboo flooring felt nice against my skin. My mum had always been thinking about getting bamboo.

The living room had a huge flatscreen TV that basically screamed at you when you walked in, a Wii and an Xbox360 – heaven, basically. Video games and movies were stacked in a neat pile on the shelf, and they even had home theatre. I immediately started scouring through the movie selections – they had everything from musicals to Korean dramas. They had more movies in this place than I had – and that was saying something.

There was a blonde guy in the kitchen, which was opposite the living room, clanking around pots and pans and making something that smelled overwhelmingly delicious. I had no idea who he was. The cook? How long had he been standing there?

Van saw us looking. "He's the kitchen bitch. Don't worry about dinner, he's got it covered."

I left it at that and jumped onto the couch next to Van. There was a bowl of empty popcorn on the table, and a half-full ashtray. "How long have you been living here, exactly?" Sora asked.

"Few weeks." He shrugged. "Hey, Layle, I thought I told you I was having guests?"

Layle sighed and picked up the empty popcorn bowl, giving Van a look. Van ignored him and switched on the TV.

We watched _Friends _reruns over non-alcoholic cocktails – for me and Sora at least; Van didn't hold back on the vodka – until it got dark. Van and Sora thought it'd be a good idea to play Grand Theft Auto – one of the only video games I hated – and I watched them blow up stuff and run away from police until I fell asleep on the couch.

The next morning I woke up in Ventus' bed to the smell of bacon and eggs. I jumped when I saw Layle standing there in his boxers and I might have been mad had the tray of food he was holding not looked so good.

Van announced we were going to the beach after breakfast. We all took showers – even the showers were fancy – and headed down to the beach. It was warm and the sand felt soft between my toes. There weren't that many others on the beach, so it was pretty much just us. The sun was shining and it was a perfect summers' day. I felt like I was on a reality TV show. Sora had brought his camera, thank God. I didn't want to forget about this. I was still finding it hard to believe where I was.

Most of the morning was spent just running up and down the beach, building – or at least attempting to build – sandcastles, and splashing around in the ocean – Van dared to skinny-dip and no one stopped him. Sora, Van and I took turns giving each other piggy backs. Sora took photos every five minutes. I told him he should really think of pursuing it as a career. I was serious. I doubt he thought I was.

Every once in a while Layle – who Sora and I had mutually concluded was Van's fuck-buddy (it just made sense) – brought us cocktails and popsicles and gelatos and sundaes and an endless array of fancy food – I could practically hear _Glamorous _by Fergie playing in the background. I picked at them gingerly and made Sora take photos of all of them to show to my parents and Instagram followers. (Don't look at me like that – you know you'd do the same.)

We'd left our phones back in the beach house – Van said so. We didn't want to be distracted – this was a weekend to ourselves. I really liked Van. He was fun, loud and spontaneous, and he was good for Sora. Even if he was a little creepy sometimes.

I stole a glance at Sora, who was licking on his blue ice cream bar – a sea salt flavor Layle had made from scratch, because, of course, that was something else he knew how to do. We were labeling the photos Sora's camera had printed out with Sharpie – because that's what aspiring hipsters did these days – and Sora's left hand was barely holding his ice cream bar while he scribbled with his right, and – well. Shoving his ice cream bar in his face just seemed like the right thing to do.

He looked so ridiculous I couldn't stop myself laughing.

He scowled sadly at his demolished dessert. "What was that for?!"

"That's for ruining my sandcastle."

"That's not fair!" He protested. "Your sandcastle sucked."

I batted my eyes at him, licking at my ice cream noisily. I was still licking when he pounced.

He grabbed me by each of my forearms, his hands as sticky as his face, and rubbed his ice-cream covered face all over mine. I tried to push him off but to no avail, and as I laughed I thought about how barely months ago I'd never had done something so disgusting. Two months ago, I thought eating Nutella straight from the tub was reckless.

We laughed until our sides hurt and then we fell into silence. I looked at him and he looked at me and I looked at him looking at me. I grinned. He grinned back.

I leaned over and kissed the remaining ice cream off his nose and mouth, because I couldn't have been the only one who noticed we were basically reliving the Notebook.

"_Ugh_, will you stop it already." Sora's brother, who was half-drunk and obviously jealous, groaned. "You guys are like a newly married couple fresh off their honeymoon and high off wild sex."

I shoved Van's arm, strangely indifferent to what he'd just said. Huh. "You're just saying that cause you're single."

"Maybe."

I had an idea. "We really need to hook you up with someone."

"And what makes you think I need hooking up? I'll have you know I have frequent sexual intercourse, thank you." He winked, which was completely unnecessary.

"TMI, Van." I paused. "No, but like. An actual relationship. You're likeable, I know a few people who'd be perfect for you." There was this girl at the tattoo parlor I'd met when I'd tagged along with Lenne once, some girls at _Oblivion_, and one or two of the teachers at our school that looked way too lonely. Van would have to work a little to not look like a drunk slore, but it was worth a shot.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Flying solo. I like not being tied down."

I didn't believe him, but I dropped the subject anyway.

I dragged Sora down to the beach after we'd finished cleaning the ice cream off each other, waiting for the tide to roll in. I told him about how we were totally Allie and Noah, and he rolled with it.

"Do you think in another life I could've been a bird?" I sighed airily, trying to be Allie Hamilton even though I was wearing a lime-green bikini instead of a cute polka-dotted one, but whatever really. "Like reincarnation?" I started flapping my arms and Sora laughed. "Say I'm a bird! Say it!"

I ran and jumped into his arms and he caught me and we made out and it was sort of kind of all kinds of perfect. And then he said, complete with the whole over-the-top Southern accent – "If you're a bird, I'm a bird." Which. Yeah.

I just really, really liked him.

* * *

_Heavy words are hard to take_

_Under pressure precious things can break_

_How we feel is hard to fake_

_So let's not give the game away_

* * *

We decided we'd had enough cheese for one day when the tide had gotten so high it reached our torsos and the sun had set beneath the waves. Layle got to cooking dinner while the rest of us cleaned up. I took a bubble bath, because as long as I was here I might as well make the most of it, right?

I was drying my hair after my shower when I rang home. I'd left a note, but I hadn't talked to her since Friday morning. I told her Sora and I thought we needed a weekend off and were spending the weekend at his beach house. She only stopped freaking out when I told her about the bamboo flooring and ruched – yes, _ruched _– curtains.

I promised to ask Van who his interior decorator was. "Is Namine there?"

"Yes, she's been staying here a lot lately. What did you tell her?" When I didn't answer, she laughed lightly. "It doesn't matter. I'm just happy she's becoming her old self again. She really took her Dad's death hard and…" I heard her sigh. "What's the use in moping. Do you want to speak to her? She might be asleep but…"

"N-No, don't wake her up." I paused. "Just…tell her I called."

When she hung up I sent Namine a text, keeping it short. _We need to tell Mom._

I finished getting dressed and joined the others in the living room. Layle was cooking something cheesy. We were all pretty beat and for a while we just lay there in front of the TV. We were about halfway through an episode of this show about fancy rich British people and had no idea what we were watching when Van suggested we watch a movie.

I immediately chose the Notebook, but Sora and Van drowned out my suggestion with groans. We argued about what to watch before choosing _Definitely, Maybe _– a movie I'd surprisingly never gotten around to seeing. It was slightly boring, but it had Ryan Reynolds and he was hot, so.

After stuffing myself with mac and cheese I was barely able to stay awake.

* * *

_And fools rush in_

_And I've been the fool before_

_This time I'm gonna slow down_

_'Cause I think this could be more_

_The thing I'm looking for_

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night to go pee – I'd taken at least three flat cocktails with dinner. I looked at myself in the mirror as I washed my hands. My hair was all over the place, and I'd forgotten to brush my teeth after dinner. I dried my hands with a towel and scrubbed at my teeth, but decided to leave my hair as it was.

By the time I got back to my room I was almost wide awake. I lay down in bed and decided to check if I'd gotten any new texts. I ignored the prodding ones from my friends – who all knew I was on a 'weekend getaway' with Sora after Van had shared a picture he'd taken of the two of us splashing around on the beach. (I still had no idea how they'd found Van's Instagram, but whatever). I had three recent ones from Namine.

_Hope you're having fun_. I smiled.

_Roxas says hi. _I snorted. I doubted that was true.

_We're going to tell them after Finals._

I sighed, switching off my phone. I was scared for the both of them, honestly. Namine and Roxas. Their lives were going to completely change after this. There was a part of me that kept telling me there was still time to convince her to have an abortion – we wouldn't have to tell my parents that way and it would be a lot safer in the long run – but I had to remind myself that it was her body and her decision. It didn't matter if I didn't agree.

I rolled over onto my stomach and rested my cheek against the pillow. The room felt colder and darker for some reason. I was scared, and restless, and I couldn't sleep even after half an hour of changing positions, and Sora was across the hall.

I padded over to his bedroom. It had to be past two am. I could see his silhouette, one of his arms resting on his stomach and the other one behind his head. I tapped on his shoulder. He groaned, peering at me through his eyelashes. He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"I went to pee and I couldn't find the bathroom and then I did and when I came back I couldn't fall asleep, so."

"What an eventful start to the day." He muttered, smirking but not really.

"Push over." He obeyed and I slipped in next to him. His feet were cold tangled in mine. He played with my hair, like he always did, and I buried my face into the side of his neck. I felt safe and calm and I didn't want to move, ever, really.

I suddenly remembered Sora didn't know about Namine. I had to tell him, before he found out from anyone else. I didn't really have a choice. "Sora. I'm worried about Namine."

"Namine?" He seemed confused. "Whatever it is, I'm sure Roxas is – "

"She's pregnant. Roxas…is the father."

He shot upright, startling me. I could barely see his face, but I could tell he was pissed by the way he was breathing. "How…how long have you known she…"

I hesitated, regretting telling him already. "…about a month."

"And you didn't think you should _tell me about this_?"

"I wanted to – I swear I did – but I didn't think…" I was stumbling over everything I wanted to say. I could tell he was losing his patience, and I desperately tried to salvage the situation. "Namine gets really unstable and I'm the only one she's told I just – I thought…"

"You thought what, Kairi? What happened to know more secrets?" He sounded hurt – almost. "Roxas is my _brother_. This is kind of a big fucking deal."

_What is happening._ "Well Namine is my sister, and it's not my fault Roxas couldn't keep it in his pants –"

"Are you honestly blaming this on Roxas? Really?"

I didn't know what he expected me to say. Who was I supposed to blame? My sister? I couldn't barely see his eyes. I didn't know what he was thinking and it scared me and angered me at the same time.

"I don't – I just don't _get _you. We promised we'd be more open with each other, and you…you don't make any sense anymore, it's driving me nuts."

"I don't _have _to tell you everything," I countered.

"Right, because it's not like we're a couple or anything?"

_No. Please no. _"What?"

"What, Kairi? What are we, exactly?"

_No no no no no –_ "We're – we're friends…"

"Since when – since when did _friends _make out?"

He sounded almost mocking, and it hurt. I could barely hear myself talking – my heart was pounding so loud. "Why does it matter? You're happy, I'm happy, we both know how we feel—"

"No, Kairi, I don't."

Something in me threatened to crack. I couldn't see his face, I had no idea what he was feeling and it scared me to death. He turned away, his words coming out bitter and regretful at the same time. I wanted to die. "I don't know how you feel. I just don't get what you want from me. You say you want to be friends and then you go ahead and make out with me and every time I think we're getting somewhere you push me away – I don't know if I'm addicted to you or something because I keep coming back."

My cheeks felt damp. I had no idea when I'd started crying but I hoped he didn't notice. I tried to sound casual and failed. "What do you want from me, Sora?"

He sighed. He tilted his head slightly, catching on the soft glow of moonlight that fell through a break in the curtain. He looked me straight in the eyes: "Just – if you don't want to label anything, that's fine, I just…I just need a definite answer."

I felt like we were on a train and we'd stepped on the brakes way too hard. I felt like I'd gotten whiplash. The hopeful sound in his voice, the look in his eyes, and what he was asking me to say. I couldn't tell him what he wanted me to, and it sucked.

The past day and a half had been perfect, and I had to come along and ruin it all. I shouldn't have brought Namine up. I shouldn't have even come into his room.

_**I want you.**_

_**This.**_

_**Us.**_

_Say something – anything. You can still fix this, Kairi. It's not too late, you – _"…Sora…I can't…I can't give you that."

"…"

We said nothing, and it scared me how little he reacted. He didn't look happy or sad – just sort of aloof, confused. Odd and out of place. "…do you still have feeling for Riku – "

I didn't want to wait for him to say anything else. I didn't even look at his face. The voice in my head wouldn't stop telling me how much of an idiot I was and I couldn't stop crying. I curled myself up in Ventus' bed and tried to stop thinking.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The next morning was horrible.

I was hoping yesterday's conversation had just been a bad dream, but it wasn't. Sora would stare at me and then look away whenever I tried to meet his eye. It sucked.

Layle had left early, which was annoying, because we ended up having to eat cereal. I was a decent cook but I wasn't hungry or in the mood to start frying up something, so we sat in the living room with our bowls in silence. We watched bad TV specials for most of the morning, and I was hoping Van would help lighten the mood with running commentary, but he was strangely quiet. He looked lost and lonely and I wondered if he was serious about liking 'flying solo'. I doubted it.

He got brighter as the day went on. I could tell he'd smoked something and I should have been scared about him driving, but it was hard to think when the silence between Sora and I was so suffocating. I was mad at him for putting me on the spot but mad at myself as well for being such a coward and I didn't have it in me to sing along with Van even when he gratuitously put in my Mary J. Blige CD. It scared me.

After what felt like forever we got home, and I didn't waste any time getting out of the car.

Namine was in my bedroom, in a pair of chinos and a loose tank top. The window was open slightly and the sun made her skin look milky-white. She was sat on her bed with a copy of _The Great Gatsby _open next to her and her laptop, and she barely noticed me walk in.

She smiled when she saw me, which was unnerving, because that almost never happened.

I made myself smile back. "Nami…" I noticed her suitcase lay half-unpacked on the floor next to her bed. "Have you been here the whole weekend?" She nodded. "Does Seifer – "

"We broke up," she said, like it explained everything. Maybe it did. She looked a lot brighter, at least. I wanted to ask more questions, but she beat me to it. "What about you? How was your weekend getaway with _Sora_?"

I decided to drop it. I was proud of her, anyway. She hadn't initiated conversation in what felt like ages. "It was…" I sighed and fell back onto the bed next to her. "It was great."

She didn't look like she believed me. She reminded me of a kitten when she frowned. "What happened."

I didn't see any point in keeping things from Namine. I told her about the view from the highway on the cliff side and singing along to dumb music and the Kyumuke's beach house and the bamboo flooring and the beach in their backyard. I told her about the fancy food and how Sora wouldn't stop taking photos of me, like he wanted to remember all of it. I told her about being Allie and Noah for those perfect fifteen minutes and the sunset and his smile and how perfect everything had been before the fight.

And Namine said: "Wait – you're not dating Sora?"

I buried my face in my palms and groaned.

"I could've sworn…" She looked confused. "Why not? You like each other – you'd have to be blind not to see the way he looks at you – and you look at him like he's the sun. _Everyone _thinks you're together except the both of you."

"It's complicated."

"Actually it's not, really." She closed her laptop and inched closer to me, crossing her legs. "Do you love him?"

I thought about it for a second. "I don't know, Namine. I don't even know what love is. I know I really, really like him and want to hang out with him all the time…"

"Well, do you ever think you'd like to hang out with him for the rest of your life?" I stared at her. "Because that's what made me realize I was in love with Roxas. I feel safe with him, I think about all the times he didn't leave and all the time he took to memorize me and what he says when he looks at me and how I know he means it."

I was pretty sure half of what she was saying was part of a Taylor Swift song, but I didn't mind. I'd never seen her look so sure about something, and it almost made me want to cry. She'd grown so much in the past year and it scared me to think how I might have never known about her and Seifer had she not met Roxas.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "It's stupid, but I can't do that. I can't throw it all out there. I can't fully trust anyone, not even myself, and what's worse is I don't have any reason not to. What happened on my fifteenth birthday happened, what happened with Riku happened, but I should know Sora is different. I shouldn't…I shouldn't feel like any moment from now he'll get bored of me and walk away. I feel like…I feel like if we give what we are a name it'll make the magic go away." I paused. I was starting to sound more and more like Namine. "Did I really just say that."

Namine smiled. I noticed she'd started braiding my hair. She always used to play with me hair when she was bored. "Why don't you take the risk then? Have some blind faith. You're the same girl who jumped off a cliff, right? Someone wise once told me: 'Nothing safe is worth the drive.'"

"If you don't stop quoting Taylor Swift I swear to God."

Namine laughed, and I thought about what she said. She had a point. She'd taken a risk with Roxas, as much as I hated it, and she was doing, relatively, fine. Except for the fact that she was pregnant, but we'd get to that later.

She looked happy, for the first time in a long while. She had – or at least she was trying to – broken free of her past.

I was almost jealous.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The next day was the play, which was _perfect _timing, really.

Sora and I were still avoiding each other the next day. I just wasn't sure how to approach him or what to say, and since most of the day was spent freaking out about preparations for the play that evening, we didn't have much time to talk anyway. Class went by in a flash. The teachers didn't really make us do anything more than study since it was our last week.

The school day ended early for us and we headed to the theater hall to get ready. Roxas and Namine showed up holding hands, while I was going over my routine. I saw Roxas looking at her, like she was the best thing he'd ever seen. I wanted to gush over them and give them both hugs and possibly freak out with Sora about how adorable Rokunami was, but we weren't talking, so.

As the evening went on, it was like no one could decide whether they were excited or scared out of their brains. I knew everyone wanted it to be great. We'd been working on it for the whole year, and we all kind of wanted to see how it'd turn out. This was the last big school event for most of the seniors, and we'd all come to be sort-of-almost-friends.

Sephiroth was angry at everyone and wouldn't stop yelling, but we all concluded that he was nervous. We were all pretty sure something was going to go wrong, but at the same time we were waiting for it to happen in bated breath.

I was scared Sora and I were going to ruin everything, especially when we still weren't talking to each other while Vanille, Paine and Marlene did our makeup. The play was in less than an hour, and neither of us could even look at one another. It was sad.

Apparently Vanille noticed. "Okay what the hell is going on?" She looked miffed. "Why aren't you guys undressing each other with your eyes like you usually do what the hell happened."

"Vanille…" I didn't want to look at Sora's reaction, but my face felt like it was on fire. "Just stop."

She waved the hairbrush in her hand around dangerously. "The play is in like an hour; if you guys don't – "

She was cut off midsentence by a chorus of gasps coming from somewhere backstage. Marlene, who was standing next to the door, gasped and covered her mouth, and Paine followed suit. "Oh my god…"

Sora and I both got to our feet, curious, and –

_Oh god. No. _

"…Riku?"

* * *

**How was that? I decided to cut it off here, because, you know. I'm on spring break! Yay me! **

***James Franco voice* "Video games and Disney movies is what life is all about."**

**The Addicted chapter is coming up soon…so…watch out…**

**Sneek Peek:**

* * *

"_Let's do this."_

"_I love you."_

"_We'll tell them together."_

"_Take her."_

* * *

**Can't believe there's only, like, five more chapters left. Maybe. Eh. We'll see. **

**Read and review? Please? **


	36. Valium

**A/N: [MUFFLED SCREAMS] YES THIS IS LATE AND I KNOW I PROMISED IT WOULDN'T BE LATE BUT A LOT IS HAPPENING IN THE FORM OF AP EXAMS AND MOVING TO TEXAS (YES I'M MOVING ONCE AGAIN) AND ENTRANCE EXAMS FOR NEW SCHOOLS AND FINALS AND EVERYTHING MAKES ME WANT TO JUMP OUT A WINDOW BUT HERE YOU GO HERE IS THE CHAPTER ENJOY. **

**Song of the chapter: Valium by Lisa Mitchell.**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, IN ANGEL…**

_Sora._

He wasn't a person – he was an experience. And it annoyed me how he didn't even realize how everyone around him leaned towards him when he smiled.

_I'm getting better._

"I think positive thinking and persistence can get you anywhere. I believe it's the key to success…and I almost have it."

_Everything is perfect…_

"If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

_...yet I somehow manage to ruin it._

"I don't know how you feel. I just don't get what you want from me."

_And as if my life wasn't already crazy enough…_

"…Riku?"

* * *

**Chapter 35: Valium**

* * *

_Sometimes your love_

_It's so pretty I just want to sink in_

_And sometimes your heart_

_Well, it's so pretty I just want to live there_

_Well I wish I could bottle it up and breathe it back like Valium_

* * *

_No. Nope. This isn't happening. Abort mission. Release parachute. Motherfucking eject. _

My entire brain felt like it was about to explode. Every single inch of my body was screaming, like I was being tasered from the inside.

He looked taller, if that was even possible, and thicker. His hair was shorter now, cut so that it barely touched the base of his neck. I tried to ignore the fading bruise on his cheek, a faint yellow, and the ghost of a cut on his bottom lip. I tried not to notice how the skin beneath his eyes was slightly darker than the rest, how the black undershirt he was wearing had the remains of what looked like toothpaste smudged on the collar, and how his hair was more of a light grey than a jet silver now.

His eyes met mine for what was actually a second, but felt like forever. They made me want to run as far away from him as I could and stay stuck in the same place all at once. They were cold, gripping. Weak. Dead.

I remembered something he'd told me once, in his car, the night we'd gone dancing in the Peristylium. _"…most of my life, I've felt…alone. Even when I was with people. Until I met you."_

I could barely hear what he was saying now. Even when his eyes left mine, it felt like he was still looking. All I could do was stare, unable to believe he was standing there in front of me, living, breathing, acting like it was completely okay to just waltz in out of nowhere.

I instinctively turned to Sora, thinking maybe he'd know what the hell was going on, but he looked just as lost as I did.

It didn't take Shuyin that long to snap out of it. He lost it, looking like he wanted to punch Riku in the face, and possibly run him over with an eighteen-wheeler. "…you disappeared and left us all for eight fucking weeks and you walk back in here expecting us not to have a problem with it?!" Lenne was standing not too far off from him, looking something between shocked, worried and turned on, if that made any sense. "And what makes you think we need 'saving' anyway? I don't know where the fuck you've been for the past two months but – "

"I know I've not been here, alright?!" He wasn't shouting, it just felt like he was. Everyone was silenced. I tried not to notice how thick his arms had gotten. Had he been working out? "I know I messed up, with Kairi – " I swore I heard him pause before continuing "– with the team, with all of you – I know you all have your issues with me and a lot of you fucking hate me – but this play starts in half an hour. You've all been working on this since September, you've stayed late on Fridays to go over these stupid routines, and as much as you hate it your grades depend on this and your parents are sitting out there waiting for a fucking show. Put away whatever stupid issues you have with me, put away whatever issues you have with each other – for one night at least, God – and put everything you have into this performance." He raked his fingers through his fringe. It was the only part of his hair that had barely changed. "And I know you all probably think this has nothing to do with me, and you all think you can do this without me but my…my dad has been working on this for so long you have no fucking idea and we are going to make this perfect, do you understand?"

My heart skipped several beats. I tried to catch Riku's eye, but he refused to look at me. He'd just told everyone Sephiroth was his Dad, and he didn't even seem to care. He didn't seem to care about anything.

Riku repeated himself, and everyone – including me – nodded, no matter how reluctant they had been before.

"Right. Let's do this."

* * *

He, apparently, had brought along his costume. Which was convenient.

Selphie and Vanille were being uncharacteristically silent as they finished off my makeup. For once, I'd been hoping they'd go back to not shutting up. I needed a distraction from the mess that my head was in. And it would have been a lot better than them whispering about it behind me back.

Everyone was whispering – it was kind of a big deal.

I couldn't let it get to me. I wouldn't. Life didn't stop for anybody, and neither did the play, which, by the way, was starting in about five minutes.

Sora, Riku and I had the first scene together, which was fricking perfect, all things considered.

None of us looked at each other as the backstage lights dimmed and we took our places. I started offstage, while Sora and Riku took their place onstage.

_Deep breaths, Kairi. Don't do anything stupid, like, scream in Riku's face or anything. _

I really did deserve a punch in the face. The thing is, I hadn't exactly envisioned what I'd do if I got up to this point. I hadn't figured out what I'd say to Riku once I found out he hadn't done anything reckless because of me, like jump off a building or something. I wasn't sure what we were – definitely not in a relationship anymore after he nearly split the back of my head open – but were we even friends anymore? He hadn't apologized – we hadn't spoken since it happened – and I had no idea if I'd even accept his apology if he ever did. I'd been trying to convince myself I hated him ever since that stupid afternoon, but the fireworks going off in my brain at the sight of his face indicated otherwise.

And what about me and Sora? Was there even a 'me and Sora'?

"Now, without further ado…"

I shook my head. _Deep breaths, Kairi. Baby steps. _I'd find answers eventually, but they had to wait. _Baby steps. _

The curtains rose dramatically, I crossed my fingers behind my back, and the play began.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

It was the most exhilarating thing I'd ever experienced. Probably not as crazy as cliff-diving had been, but damn well close.

Hayner very nearly forgot to dim the lights once, not that anyone noticed, but apart from that, no one screwed up. Tidus was more the relieved to go back into his original role, no one tripped over anyone's laces, and I didn't mess up a single line. None of us did. And the crowd loved it.

Riku stole the show – everyone loved him, even though he was technically the antagonist. Sora was a good actor, great even, but Riku was phenomenal. When he was on stage, it was like he wasn't Riku anymore – he was his character, through and through. It was like watching a Leo DiCaprio movie, except not really.

Namine and Roxas' dance solo caught me off guard, because, honestly, for most of the year no one even knew what their characters did since they were barely in class anyway. It was almost freakishly good – I had no idea Namine could dance. It was a mix of contemporary and street dance and it somehow all just worked. I wondered why she hadn't told me about it. It hit me, then, that I really didn't know that much about Namine. I didn't think I really ever had.

The roar of approval we got at the final curtain call was deafening. It was just beautiful, and I should have gotten used to it after winning three glee club competitions with this school, but I really wasn't. I didn't think I'd ever be.

It was like winning Nationals all over again except better. Everyone was hugging each other, couples were making out like crazy because why not, and I was borderline sobbing. I hugged Penelo for what felt like ages, didn't even complain when Selphie kissed me on the cheek, and when Yuna pulled us in for a group hug, I was the last to pull away.

Lenne was crying into Shuyin's shoulder, only she was one of those people who knew how to cry and still look like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley while doing it. Tidus and Yuna were hugging like the world was about to end, Penelo ran off to find Vaan…everyone had started to pair up, and I ran off to find Sora.

I couldn't even remember what Sora and I had fallen out over, but I decided I didn't care.

I jumped into his arms and he caught me, and it was another one of those moments I wish someone had gotten on tape, because I wanted to replay it over and over and over for the rest of my life. I buried my face into his shoulder. He smelt like peppermint and laundry detergent.

He was looking at me, his eyes all warm and gooey like fresh-baked cookies. I wanted to bite his face.

What he said next seemed to come out of nowhere.

"I love you."

_What. _

_W H A T._

I blinked – once, twice. Everything around me had gone fuzzy, like static. The three words repeated themselves over and over, like a tape deck on loop.

The corners of his mouth turned upwards, casual, with no hint of nervousness. He'd just told me he _loved _me and he was _smiling –_ "I'm not saying it because I want an answer. I just…I just wanted you to know."

I didn't know how to react. I wanted to scream at him, to tell him that, no, he couldn't say he loved me _now_, when my hair was the equivalent of a wild animal and I was sweating from under my boobs and we were surrounded by everyone we knew. I wanted to tell him that he had no idea what he was talking about, that he couldn't _love me _because he deserved so much better and I'd probably never, ever be able to say it back.

But I didn't. I just kissed him.

And he kissed me back. He tasted like toothpaste and something tangy. The hair at the back of his neck was damp. It was one of _those _kisses.

When I pulled back he still had that look in his eyes, and I thought maybe – just maybe – he did love me. And that maybe one day I'd be able to say it back.

Just…not now. "I…just need some time, okay?"

He nodded, like he'd known what I was going to say before I even said it.

It was a good thing Sora spoke up then, because I was this close to losing it. His hand dropped from my waist to my wrist, which, I thought, was a safe distance. "My parents should be around somewhere, I think. Van and my cousin Xion said they were coming…"

I knew I recognized the name from somewhere, and – sure enough – it was the dark-haired girl I'd seen a while ago. Her hair was light-blue and she was obviously wearing red contacts, but it was undeniably her. She was with Van, Roxas and Namine, but she crushed Sora in a hug as soon as she saw us approaching. "Rei Ayanami," she said, pointing to her hair, like it explained everything. "Evangelion. You should watch." _A cosplayer. Just like Penelo. _She clapped her hands, gushing over Sora in a way I would've found creepy if she wasn't his cousin. "I had no idea you could sing! And act! And dance…well, sort of." She left Sora mumbling in protest and turned to me. "And you…" She obviously still recognized me. "…must be Kairi. I don't think we've properly met yet…"

We shook hands. It just felt odd. "We met once or twice. Starbucks, I think," I explained before Sora could ask. Xion nodded. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but didn't. And that's when I remembered she knew Riku. She probably still did. Maybe she knew something about –

"Where's Riku?" She said, suddenly. "I wanted to say hi…"

An invisible fist punched my stomach. I followed her gaze, looking around for Riku, but finding no one, and I remembered that Sora and I had been kissing in the middle of the stage, in front of everyone…including Riku.

Sora grimaced. "…well, fuck."

_Well, fuck indeed_, I wanted to say, but I didn't, because I was too busy wondering where he'd gone.

I had a bad feeling about this. About everything. Where he'd gone, why he'd gone, why he'd left without saying goodbye.

I itched to go looking for him, but I couldn't, because what seemed to be Sora's entire family showed up backstage, along with Neku, Shiki and the others from _Oblivion_ – even Sora's boss. It was like everyone he knew had shown up to support him.

Sora's Dad – Cloud Strife – looked like he'd stepped out of a men's catalogue – but then again, so did nearly every middle-aged male on this island. I'd only ever seen him in photo albums, and he didn't look that different, bar a few smile lines that hadn't been there in the grainy photos that lay around the house. I knew things between Sora and his Dad were a little tense – Sora was doing that thing with his eyebrows he never really noticed himself doing, and it'd slipped out in one of our conversations before.

I awkwardly stood behind Sora as he and his Dad exchanged hellos and smiles that weren't really smiles, twirling one of my extensions around my index finger to keep me busy.

"Listen up!" He said suddenly. He had a voice that knew how to catch everyone's attention without being a shout. "Who's up for a drink?"

A couple of parents passed us by, giving Cloud a non-so-discreet glare. He backpedalled. "Or how about dinner? It's on me – I know this great new place called _Turtle's Paradise_…"

He started explaining the logistics and I realized how odd it was that I was there. I didn't know half of these people as well as Sora did. It just felt like I was intruding. Sora looked happy, he deserved a night for everyone to appreciate him and only him. Standing awkwardly on the sidelines was making my knees go numb.

I tapped Sora on the shoulder. "Hey – you go ahead, okay? I'm not really hungry, and you guys need some family time – "

"No no no no – absolutely not." A dark-haired woman swooped out of nowhere. She was Tifa, Van's Mum, and she smelt like hair tonic. "Not an option. We've been waiting for the day Sora would bring a bird back to the nest for years – we aren't about to let you run away."

I heard myself laugh. Tifa stuck her tongue out at Sora, whose ears had turned bright pink. Still – "But – I don't want to be a burden; you've probably already made reservations…"

Cloud made it clear it really wasn't a problem, and there were only so many times I could reject his invitation.

* * *

I had to carpool with Lulu – who I found out was Xion's mother – who talked to me about fashion for at least the entire drive to the restaurant after I asked her where she got her shoes. Xion, Roxas and Namine were in the back seat, Xion somehow managing not to be a third wheel. She was that kind of person. Impossible to not notice.

The restaurant was about to close when we got there – it was eleven pm after all – but we were given three entire tables and food on the house. Sora's Dad, apparently, knew people. _Turtle's Paradise _was cozy and the food was delicious. It had a nice medieval theme to it, if you ignored the jukebox that stood awkwardly in the corner. Every restaurant on the Islands had a jukebox – it was almost mandatory.

The final group ended up consisting of Sora and I, everyone from _Oblivion_, Penelo and Vaan, and Terra and Aqua, who had been invited by Cloud simply because they'd happened to be walking by. Van explained that Cloud was in a good mood because he'd been promoted and had gotten half-drunk in the middle of the day, which explained his eccentric behavior. I wondered how he acted when he was sober.

I liked hanging with Sora's family. They were all complex and complimented each other in different ways. The tension that had been there at the beginning of the meal completely disappeared by the second course. Sora's parents weren't fighting – the most interaction Cloud and Aerith had was asking each other to pass the salt, but that was it. No torn limbs, or anything. Sora said they were just being polite, but I really believed it was a step forward. He'd told me that even after the divorce, they were always on the verge of biting each other's head off, so this was an improvement. I never asked about Sora's family more than I needed to. He'd tell me anyway.

There were so many conversations going on it was hard to keep up – Neku and Joshua were having a discussion about things they mutually disliked, like show tunes and the latest Foo Fighters album; Beat was trying to advertise this new app he was creating while trying to stop Shiki from stealing Rhyme's fries; Xion was bombarding Roxas and Namine with questions about their relationship; Penelo, Vaan and Sora were talking about their plans for the summer…it was like our table at the cafeteria, except, somehow, it all seemed a lot more warm and happy. There were no inhibitions. I grasped Sora's hand underneath the table, rubbing his knuckles softly, cause I knew he liked that. He stopped talking for only a second to look at me, a smile in his eyes, and pasta sauce at the edge of his mouth.

I excused myself to go the bathroom, not that anyone really noticed. The bathroom was actually a wooden porta potty outside, which would have been a problem if it wasn't pleasantly warm outside, even at this hour. I could feel the sea breeze – the restaurant was located a pleasant distance from the shore, but still close enough so you could see the moon showering the ocean with light from the veranda.

I loved Destiny Islands.

"Van – stop – "

My gushing was interrupted by Aqua and…Van, who were almost directly below me. They were outside on the back porch, and his hand was on the back of her neck – or at least it had been, until she'd stopped him. I couldn't see his face from my angle – but I could see hers clearly. She was staring into what I assumed were his eyes, looking the same way she'd looked the last time I'd spoken to her. Her eyes were scared, but a bold kind of scared. She knew exactly what she was doing when she kissed him again.

It was loud, obscene. There was little to no space between them, his hands were everywhere at once and so were hers. It was like they wanted to rip each other's clothes off. Watching them gave me the same feeling I'd gotten once when I'd walked in on Van watching porn. And it wasn't a good feeling.

He pulled down the sleeve of her dress and started sucking on her neck, and I ripped my eyes away violently, trying not to hyperventilate. I had no idea what was going on, apart from the fact that Sora's brother and our _engaged _English teacher were making out in broad daylight – well, moonlight – while said _engaged _English teacher's husband was still inside, completely oblivious –

Aqua gasped. Shoes scratched on gravel. I thought, maybe, they were already having sex right there on the patio and considered locking myself in the porta potty for the rest of the night…that is until Aqua spoke up.

"No – stop, this isn't what I – Van – _stop_."

He stopped. I finally dared to look back down at the scene. Her dress was embarrassingly rumpled and her hair was a mess, and Van's jeans were barely hanging onto his hips. She looked at him like it hurt, and then she wiped at her mouth. "This isn't…I didn't call you out here for this – I told you we can't _do _this anymore."

Van laughed – darkly. "You and I both know you don't mean that."

"I do mean it this time." She fixed her dress, stepping back from him. She looked at the floor, and then back up at him. "I'm marrying him, Van. I can't keep _lying _to him…he loves me and…I love him."

"Bullshit."

"It's not _bullshit _– I told you already this was a mistake, how many times will I have to tell you before – "

"I thought maybe the fact that you're _having my baby _might've changed that."

None of them said anything. I could hear cicadas chirping. I could hear myself breathing. I couldn't wait to tell all of this to Sora.

And then: "The wedding is this summer. We've set a date – 1st of July. My birthday. I wanted you to be the first to have this."

She handed him an envelope.

He stared at the envelope. I watched his shoulders tense. Then he looked up at her, with ferocity in his voice that scared the shit out of me. "Fuck you."

"Van, don't – "

"_**Fuck you, Aqua. **_You think marrying Terra will make you a saint? You think it'll make the last few months disappear? You can't _kiss me _like that and then give me this fucking wedding invitation like your hands weren't down my pants five seconds ago – "

"_Stop_ – "

"No, you stop. I'm sick and tired of this, of _women _thinking they can do whatever they want and expecting us to bend over fucking backwards for them like this is some fairytale. The funny thing is, I've been beating myself up the past few weeks wondering why the hell you're still with that shitface, but then I realized something. You love me, but you're too fucking scared to admit it because you want your cozy white house and picket fence, _never mind the fact that you're pregnant_. What you don't realize is one day, you're going to start showing and he and his picket fence will fuck off and leave and you'll be nothing more than a knocked-up whore."

"You don't know him. You don't know anything." Her eyes were burning, angry – at him or herself, I didn't know. It was like walking into a TV drama midseason.

He cackled. It sounded off somehow. "Do whatever the fuck you want, I'm done."

"At least I know he'll stay."

He stopped mid-exit, clenched his fists. "You never gave me a chance…"

They both stood still, like they were waiting on each other to say something.

Aqua ended the silence. "Goodbye, Van."

"…fuck you."

And then he left.

I watched Aqua cry for a good five minutes until I remembered I still needed to pee.

* * *

Dessert had arrived by the time I got back – homemade pineapple cheesecake and ice cream. I didn't have an appetite to eat after what I'd just seen, but Sora ate for the both of us, so nothing went to waste.

Vanitas dismissed himself for a smoke break and was gone for the rest of the meal. Terra announced his and Aqua's official wedding date and said we were all invited. Which was weird, since he didn't know any of us, but he was a man in love and he was happy, so it didn't matter, I guess.

I held off telling him until we were on the way home. Roxas sat in the front while Namine stayed in the back with Sora and I. She'd fallen asleep on his shoulder, which he didn't seem to mind.

I didn't know how much Aerith or Roxas knew, so I texted him instead.

_I don't really know how to say this but Aqua's cheating on Terra with your brother. _

Sora stared at my text, looked shocked for a second, and then replied. _I know. _

_What do you mean 'I know'?!_

_Long story. When did u find out?_

I tried not to look upset. Well that was disappointing. I told him everything I'd seen, all the way up until the end. Sora looked sick. He told me Aqua and Van had a backstory – they were high school lovers, he broke her heart, he came back asking for forgiveness…it would have been cheesy if Sora wasn't such a good storyteller.

I wanted to sympathize, but cheating was cheating and after all the rude things Van had said to her, I didn't know if I could respect him anymore. Oh well, Sora said. Let's agree to disagree.

I asked if he was going to Terra and Aqua's wedding. He said no.

Neither was I.

* * *

Sora called me at one-fifteen am, while I was brushing my teeth. "Night, Kairi." And then, almost immediately. "I love you."

I choked on my toothpaste.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

The senior graduation ceremony was that Wednesday. It was emotional, to say the least. I hadn't been friends with part of the group for as long as most of the people there, but it didn't mean I wasn't going to miss anybody.

It was held on the beach, underneath a convenient set of palm trees. Everyone sat on lawn chairs. The dress code for the graduating class was long, floral beach dresses for girls and Hawaiian-themed outfits for guys.

It was ridiculous, but I loved it.

Yuna looked gorgeous, and so did Fang, I had to admit. Selphie was crying for most of it. All the teachers were there – Miss Heartilly even brought Angelo, much to Sora's horror.

Principal Yoshida gave a gripping speech about the future and goals and grasping onto the light and such. There was still a valedictorian speech – delivered by Fang who was, unsurprisingly, a pretty good public speaker. She talked about leadership and morals and bravery, and, as she put it, "being a bad bitch", which somehow didn't get her kicked off stage.

Tears were shed. Diplomas were handed out. Dozens of sunhats flew in the air, like birds against the blue sky.

The graduation party kicked off immediately after. There were already huge coolers full of refreshments, cocktail stands and a barbecue set up farther down the beach. For what it's worth, Selphie was always good with organizing parties.

And the weather couldn't have been better. It was sunny, the sky was clear and the waves were perfect for surfing.

I forgot my bikini so I spent most of the afternoon lazing about on the sand, sunbathing in my sundress. Sora ate hotdogs and ice cream bars until he fell asleep, his hand over his bare torso, his other hand shading his eyes and his mouth wide open as he snored.

I hung out with the rest of the group when watching him sleep started getting me weird looks. Selphie arranged a volleyball match, borrowing a net and a ball from the lifeguards.

Turns out I sucked at volleyball, but so did nearly everyone except Tidus, Shuyin, Selphie, Yuna and Yuffie, so it didn't really matter.

A rumor got around that there was going to be a meteor shower that night, so Selphie extended the party for anyone who wanted to stay. Shuyin made a campfire and we made s'mores in the sunset. Sora got marshmallow all over his mouth and I would have licked it off for him had we, you know, not been surrounded by a dozen others.

Selphie started crying again a while later, when Shuyin was in the middle of telling a story about when he'd gone camping in 7th grade. No one seemed annoyed by it, amazingly – Rikku even gave her a hug. Everyone was starting to feel it.

"I love you guys – so much," Selphie said between sobs. "You have to – to promise to keep in touch, okay?"

Everyone nodded, patting her on the back and hugging her until her tears reduced to a sniffle.

Around nine-thirty pm, everyone had their stomachs full of s'mores and idle chatter had reduced to a few whispers here and there. Everyone had paired up and those who hadn't were down by the shore.

"We're gonna be seniors next year…" Sora whispered, like he couldn't believe it. His hair was speckled with sand. It was spikier now. I liked it that way. "Can't believe it."

"I can."

He poked my side. "I just realized I don't have a single idea what I'm doing after I graduate."

I shrugged – well, as much as I could with my back on the sand. "Huh. You're a pretty good writer."

"Thanks."

"No, really. You could become a writer, maybe."

"It takes _ages _and like a billion rejection letters for books to get published. And even then, the chance that people will end up liking what I write enough to buy it…" He sighed. "Your future's all set out for you, huh?"

I gave him a look, like _really, Sora? _"No, it's not."

He snorted. "You can sing, dance, act, cheer – you've got a face that would impress Aphrodite, even…" He paused. "Aphrodite's the goddess of beauty, by the way – "

"I know. I read that Percy Jackson book you lent me." I paused. "But you don't get it. I guess I'm good at a lot of things, but not _great _at anything in particular, you know? It sucks. You – you've got writing, and singing, so you could make it as a songwriter, or an author…and I'm not the one whose face was on the cover of a fashion magazine this month."

"You could be a model if you tried."

_No, I couldn't_, I wanted to say. _I don't want to be a model anyway – it's degrading to women and encourages eating disorders …Also my thighs are too big, my face is too puffy, and everything I eat goes to my butt._

…but I didn't. A voice told me I should just accept his compliments, for once. I could hear it in his voice that he meant it.

I squeezed his hand instead. The sky was dark and clear, slightly shrouded by what was left of the barbecue and campfire smoke, but still clear enough to see the stars. It was like New Year's…except without Riku.

I sighed. Riku was alive, and I guess that had to be enough for now.

And Sora had told me he loved me. It had been two days, but the feeling I'd gotten when he said it still hadn't worn off. I didn't think it ever would.

I reached into my tote bag for the lucky charm I'd been working on for weeks. I'd hoped to finish it before Sora's birthday, but it was my first time sewing since middle school and it took a lot longer than I'd expected. It was made out of five thalassa shells, including the one Sora'd given me on Valentine's Day. Thalassa shells were unique to Destiny Islands, I discovered, and, according to legend, were used by sailors for protection at sea.

I'd gotten a little help from Namine, who helped paint a cartoonish little face onto one of the shells and even added some spiky hair. It was about the size of my hand, and I was pretty happy about it.

It meant a lot more though, now. It was everything I wanted to say but couldn't. He deserved so much more than me, honestly.

"All this talk about the future got me thinking, a little. Which reminds me…" I poked his torso until he looked at me. "I made you this."

He took it from me, holding it up to the sky so he could get a better look. I watched his eyes change from shock to awe, and then his face broke into a smile. "For me?"

"It's my lucky charm. Well, yours now," I said. "It's for protection. Like, you know, it might be a far way away but we'll be off to college soon, and no one knows where we might end up. Different sides of the globe, maybe. And one day you might be some bigshot writer with a dozen bestsellers, and I'll still be trying to get a record deal…" He was trying really hard not to laugh. "But what I'm saying is…wherever you go, I'm always with you."

His face was soft, the way it always was when Kerchak called Tarzan his son at his death scene. (I'd watched _Tarzan_ enough times to know this.)

"That has to be the cheesiest thing you've ever said."

"It's your fault. You rubbed off on me."

We both laughed. The soft look in his eyes was bordering on _Fox and the Hound_ territory. I wanted to kiss every inch of his face.

"I – "

Someone screeched, and the beach was filled with a chorus of gasps. Selphie pointed upwards.

Lights streamed across the midnight sky, filling nearly every single inch. It was surreal, like something out of a fairytale, like one of Namine's paintings…back when she used to paint, that is. They were like silent fireworks, except there was a sereneness about them. With the backdrop of the enthused laughs and cheers of everyone in the beach, and the warmth of the person who meant most to me in the world beside me.

It was like, for the first time in my life, I was at peace. I was genuinely, irrevocably happy.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Namine was around a lot more now. Breaking up with Scarface, as I liked to call him, had done her good. She even brought in more of her stuff – clothes, her paintings, a tiny stuffed doll I didn't know she owned. She told me it was a present from Roxas.

I told Sora about how great Namine was. He seemed to feel the same as I did.

Coming to school during revision week wasn't mandatory, especially with all the seniors gone, so we stayed home. Sora and Roxas came over on Thursday afternoon, and we spent it doing a group study, or at least attempting to anyway. Mom and Roxas baked cookies while Namine helped. She'd been a bit upset when she found out Seifer and Namine had broken up, but she'd completely gotten over it after seeing how happy Roxas made her. So it was okay. She warmed up to Roxas in seconds, especially when she discovered what an amazing sifter he was. His cookies tasted better than anything Mom had ever baked, which was saying something.

He was a lot easier to look at now that he'd completely ditched the makeup and piercings and everything that made him unapproachable. He was like a calmer, more rugged version of Sora, and if I wasn't head over heels for his brother I might have given him a chance, maybe. Roxas and Namine seemed like polar opposites at first, but seeing them together…it was like they were one person. He'd know what she was about to say before she'd even say it, they'd complete each other's sentences, and they'd have entire conversations with just their eyes. They were so cute it hurt.

I wondered if that's how people saw Sora and I? Probably not.

Mom left around four to help Aerith finish off at the new florist business she'd been running for the past month. She'd been selling flowers with a cute little flower wagon down at the park, and her smile and the smell of the dozens of fresh bouquets got her several customers each day. My Mom helped out with advertising, and she was even thinking of finding her a place to make the shop official. Things were looking up, even with Zack going off to war, and all that.

Namine was doodling on her Geometry textbook while Roxas span a strand of her hair around the end of his pencil, not even noticing he was doing it. Roxas was lying on his stomach while Namine sat with her legs crossed. They looked like a painting.

"So, you know, about the baby…" Sora said, breaking the perfect silence in the most awkward fashion ever. He clapped his hands together like an excited child. "I just wanted to tell you guys I'm really happy for the both of you and…if you need anything, anything at all…"

"We're good," Namine assured him. "But thank you."

"Well…" He grinned, stretching his arms. "When it's time, we'll tell them together."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

Once I'd explained the difference between alkanes, alkynes and alkenes to Sora for what felt like the umpteenth time, we decided enough was enough for one day. We ordered a movie, whipped up some smoothies and huddled on the couch in front of the TV.

The movie was called _The First Time_, and it sort of sucked but it had Dylan O'Brien, which made it sort of worth it. Roxas and Namine fell asleep against each other halfway through it, almost completely at the same time. _Amazing._

"What was your first time like?" I asked Sora, barely whispering. It wasn't like either of us were paying any attention to the movie anymore anyway. He gave me a look, like '_really?_'. I shrugged. "Fine…what've you ever thought your first time would be like? Where, when…"

"That's personal…"

"Come on; no secrets, right?" I pouted, for extra measure.

He sighed, fidgeting a little. "Well…for a while I thought it would never happen, I mean, you know why. But…" He smiled a little. "I always thought, maybe, if it ever did happen, it'd be after prom, at a suite in a hotel, with scented candles and French cheeses and sliced paopu and classical music playing from a gramophone."

"Our school doesn't have a prom."

"Well." The tips of his ears were pink, and he was scratching his arm. He was embarrassed. Aw.

"Fancy. I never thought you'd be the type. French cheeses are a bit much though."

He pouted, crossing his arms. "I dunno…I think the first time should be special, you know?"

I remembered when I used to think like that. The entire concept of 'first time' seemed foreign to me now. "Sex isn't all it's made out to be, Sora. Trust me. My first time was kind of a bummer."

His eyebrows creased together in a soft frown. It wasn't pitying, though, which made it okay. He was just concerned, probably. He shrugged, eventually. "Well, I think it is. I think the first person you take that step with should be someone important. Like a first kiss, except with…" He stopped at the look I gave him. "Look, you said the same thing about a first kiss, right?"

"Yeah, but that's different." I noticed the hem of my skirt was getting frayed. Huh. "Sex is different. It's just a physical act, there doesn't have to be anything Biblical about it…"

"Maybe." He paused. "But I know you don't believe that."

I knew he knew I didn't. I found his hand in the dim light of the room. I'd gotten a lot better recently – Arecia said so. Soon I wouldn't even need therapy anymore. She'd made me make a list of things that made me happy, and to think of them whenever I got triggered. It helped that number one on the list was my best friend.

"I think nothing is your first time unless you want it to be," Sora said. "Like I could say my first kiss was at a party. Or I could say my first kiss was with you." He shrugged easily.

It was something making Sora blush. It was something else when it was the other way round.

"Your turn," he said.

I thought about it for a second. "Well there wouldn't be any French cheeses, for starters." He nudged me with his elbow. I continued, ignoring him. "Namine and I always said we'd wait until marriage. Is that old-fashioned? I don't know. We both used to be such hopeless romantics. I grew out of it, but. I think there's something special knowing the person next to you is the one you're going to spend the rest of your life with." If it was anyone else, I would have made up a lie, maybe made it sound a little kinkier, but this was Sora. I knew he wouldn't care. "I'd like my first time to be at a beach house though. Somewhere I could hear the waves. And after it's over we'd order pizza."

"Sexy."

"We could eat it off each other."

Sora laughed, like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

* * *

"If you tell this to anyone I'm telling everyone about how you talk to your stuffed animals."

"You wouldn't dare."

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"What's this?" I asked on Friday, as Arecia handed me an envelope.

"The final cheque. This is our last session, after all."

I stared at her. "Really? You're serious?"

Arecia shrugged, adjusting the plant on her table. "You don't need me anymore – I'm not going to charge your parents anymore than I need to."

It was weird, but I felt a little disappointed. I'd thought I had at least another few weeks, a month, even. I liked talking to Arecia so much; sometimes I forgot she was being paid to talk to me.

I must have been frowning, because she noticed. "Don't worry – if you ever need to talk I'm right here. No charge."

I got up from my seat and gave her a hug, feeling emotional for some reason. It was hard to admit, but she had helped me. I'd needed therapy a lot more than I thought. "Thank you."

She hugged me back. When she pulled away, she reached into her desk and pulled out a small pink book. "Remember what I told you. Think about things that make you happy. Write about them. Draw about them. Focus on the positive." She tucked some of my hair behind my ear. "You're a beautiful girl, Kairi. Don't let your past take control of your future. Learn to embrace people, to let people in. It'll do you so much good. You let me in, now look at you."

I smiled, against my will. She hugged me again, kissed me on the forehead and gave me her card. "Call me if you ever need me, ok?"

We said our goodbyes. It was going to be strange, not having to go see her twice a week anymore.

Sora was waiting for me when I got outside. He had Pascal with him, secured in a birdcage, like I'd asked. I'd finally been able to convince him that Pascal needed to go back to the wild. Squirrels weren't domestic animals, and it was weird enough he'd kept one for as long as he had. Pascal had spent more than enough time cooped up in Sora's garden.

Sora looked upset, but he tried his best to smile when he saw me. "No more therapy. I'm free for the summer."

He fist-pumped.

We headed to the forest. We got weird looks on the bus, as expected.

We made sure to get deep enough into the forest – we didn't want him running onto the road or anything.

We found a spot full of tall, winding trees. I spotted a few squirrels. Sora had brought his camera. He was tearing up.

"It's time to let him go," I said.

He nodded laboriously and got to his knees. I got to my knees next to him. He said goodbye, looking so upset it almost made me cry.

And then he opened the birdcage.

Pascal scurried out, sprinting around in circles, obviously glad he was finally out of his cage. And then he stopped, paced a little, and climbed up Sora's arm.

He was trying to hard not to cry. Pascal played around in his hair for a few good minutes, and then he perched himself on my lap.

We sat there with him, letting him scurry around on us for what felt like ages. I was going to miss him. Maybe not as much as Sora, but still. We had some good times, that injured squirrel and I.

-ANGEL-ANGEL-ANGEL-

"So what are we doing this summer?"

It had taken a lot to get Sora to leave Pascal alone, finally. The squirrel eventually found an oak tree more interesting than Sora's hair and disappeared up it, and it took a while to convince Sora that he wasn't coming back down at least for another few hours.

He sulked all the way home, but he seemed to have cheered up by the time we made it to his garden. The smell of the grass and the promise of summer was enough of a distraction.

I shrugged. "Well you did sign us up for those dance classes…"

"And the Korean lessons. Right. Can't forget about that."

The sky was clear blue and the shade from the only tree in his garden didn't stop the heat. I wanted to change into a bikini, but I was too lazy to get off the ground.

"We'll see what happens," he said finally. He hadn't let go of my lucky charm – which he'd called '_Oathkeeper_' – since I'd given it to him. He was playing with it now, absently. "I've spent every summer on this island, so."

"My parents love traveling…I heard my Dad saying something about going to Gran Pulse, maybe. They have great landscapes, apparently. If I asked they'd let you come along."

"Maybe."

My stomach made an embarrassing groaning noise and I realized hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"You hungry?" Sora asked.

"No," I lied, but who was I kidding.

He kissed me on the cheek noisily and I attempted to push him off. He laughed and got to his feet. "I'll go get ice cream. Be right back."

Sora was out of ice cream – I'd checked. He'd gone down to the corner shop, which was a good five minutes away by foot. It would take him another ten to twenty minutes to get back, which was why, when I heard the front door creak open, I was immediately curious.

"Hello?" I got to my feet cautiously. I heard footsteps, voices. "Roxas?"

Roxas was out with friends, Namine was helping Mum at work, and Aerith was at her day job. None of them were due back for another two hours, at least.

Was it Zack? He worked during the day, but he was getting deployed soon. Maybe his hours had changed?

I stepped into the living room, hearing my heart thudding in my ears. There was something wrong.

"You sure this is the right house?"

"Yeah. Saw some photos in the living room. He should be here."

The voices were coming from the kitchen. My breath hitched in my throat. I knew that voice.

_Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic._

I needed to call for help. I'd left my cellphone on Sora's desk upstairs, so I took a step towards the landline, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Not so fast."

I stopped short.

Seifer. The scar across his face looked even scarier than it had the last time I'd seen him. He wasn't wearing a suit this time either. There was a glimpse of a tattoo on his stomach, there was a gun tucked in his front pocket, and everything about him screamed dangerous.

I wanted to run as far away from him as possible.

"Who's this?" The other guy said, looking almost bored. He had a ponytail and a cowboy hat and looked like the person who would kill you in your sleep.

"Sister. Not what I came for but she'll have to do. Wasted enough time here as it is." He jutted his chin in my direction. "Take her."

* * *

…**DO YOU HATE ME YET. **

**BECAUSE. **

**YEAH.**

**I don't know when the next update should be, so don't ask. I'll try my best. **

**READ AND REVIEW, PLEASE. THANKS. **


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